Dogs are often called ‘man’s best friend’, but anyone who has ever owned a dog knows that the bond between a human and their four-legged companion goes much deeper than friendship.
When a Florida family’s lives were threatened in a sickening attack, their 9-month-old pit bull put his life on the line to warn and save them. In order to return the favor, the family was about to make a heartbreaking decision until the community stepped up to give the hero dog what he deserved…
The Rescue Dog
At around 2 in the morning on September 26, 2013, Trevor and the rest of his family was suddenly woken up by the sound of barking that seemed to be coming from Onyx, the family’s 9-month-old pit bull terrier, who Trevor had found on the streets and rescued a few months earlier.
A Red Flag
Onyx slept in a crate outside on the back patio of the family’s home in Tallahassee, Florida and he never normally barked or made enough noise to wake his family up in the middle of the night. Not only was it out of character, but Trevor knew something was wrong because of the sound of Onyx’s bark…
A Heart Stopping Sound
According to Trevor, he had never heard Onyx bark and yelp the way he was barking that night, so he decided to climb out of bed and peer out the window to see what was going on. The second Trevor looked out the window, however, he finally understood why Onyx was freaking out.
The Fire
From the window of his bedroom, Trevor saw that the home’s back porch, including Onyx in his cage, was completely engulfed in flames. Without hesitating, Trevor ran downstairs, grabbed a hose, and put out the flames that were burning Onyx…
Putting Out The Flames
Once Onyx was saved, Trevor grabbed the hose and started working to put out the flames at another part of the house where the fire looked to be growing the fastest. Meanwhile, Trevor’s fiance Sierra was busy grabbing their 2 sons and running out of the house.
A Grateful Mother
“I honestly do feel like if Onyx wasn’t out there, even though it’s unfortunate, anything could have happened,” Sierra explained. “Once it (the fire) got up to my son’s room, we wouldn’t have been able to go up there and get the kids out…”
The Damage
Firefighters arrived at the home shortly after and thankfully were able to put out the fire before it destroyed the entire home that the couple rented. The damage to the home was going to cost about $5,000 and even though they didn’t have renter’s insurance to cover the damage, the house and their belongings were the last things on the couple’s mind.
Covered In Burns
With their kids safe, all Trevor and Sierra cared about now was if Onyx, who was being rushed to the Tallahassee Animal Service Center, was going to survive his injuries. Once Onyx was examined by a vet, they determined that 30 percent of his body was covered in burns…
The Cost Of Saving Onyx
According to the shelter, Onyx was going to require weeks of expensive care, treatments, antibiotics, and medications in order to survive. Doctors gave Trevor and Sierra an estimate of how much it was going to cost to save Onyx, and they were heartbroken when they realized they didn’t have enough money.
A Heartbreaking Choice
“We were at our wits’ end. We were going to give him up because we didn’t have money for treatment,” said Sierra. When the staff at the animal shelter heard how Onyx was injured and what the family was thinking of doing, they told the family not to give up hope just yet…
The Vet’s Goal
“Our goal is to help pets stay in their homes with their families,” Dr. Rachel Barton, Animal Services Veterinarian, said. “Given the traumatic event this family had just experienced, we knew we needed to do whatever we could to help them keep Onyx at home.”
Sharing Onyx’s Story
The staff reached out to Dr. Kevin Brumfield, a veterinarian at Northwood Animal Hospital, who agreed to treat Onyx and help them set up a Facebook page to raise money for his recovery. Soon after sharing Onyx’s story on social media, the post was shared over a 1,000 times and complete strangers were donating money to help the 9-month-old pit bull…
Blindsided By The Support
“The support that we have received for Onyx has brought me so many wonderful chills!” Dr. Morgan Guoan wrote after seeing how many people donated to their cause. “Thank you to all for the wonderful smile in my heart and for the most beautiful love, light and energy all of you are sending. Onyx is wagging his tail for you! Thank you for that!”
A Deserving Dog
“I’m just so happy that he’s getting the treatment that he needs and that he deserves,” Sierra said after people from the community and others from around the country donated the $15,000 that Onyx needed for his life-saving treatments…
The Investigation
While Onyx was fighting for his life, the police were hard at work trying to figure out how the fire started to begin with. Ultimately, investigators determined that the fire wasn’t an accident. “The Fire Marshall is telling us that someone deliberately started the fire,” said Sierra.
A Cold Case
“They doused gasoline through here which was basically on top of Onyx and then ignited the fire,” Sierra explained. A red gas container was left on the scene, but unfortunately, the DNA was uninterpretable and any other clues just led to dead ends…
Sickening Violence
“Onyx is not a human, but he’s still a part of our family. They hurt someone in our family. Almost killed someone in our family. And almost killed us,” said Sierra. “Who would do something like this? Why would someone do something like this? What would make someone so angry or so mad?”
Frustrated And Afraid
Unfortunately, police were never able to find the attacker to get justice for Onyx and make sure the person responsible can never try to harm the family again. “I’m always worried. Every little sound we’re looking out the window,” Sierra said. “If the motion lights come on, we’re checking around the house. I just wish things would have turned out differently for them to have found the person, but I can’t sit here and say they’ll never find him. Things happen…”
A Miraculous Recovery
While the family will always be frustrated that police didn’t catch the person who tried to kill them, they were thrilled when Onyx was finally strong enough to return home. After the fire, Onyx was covered in burns, was missing fur, and nearly lost his eyes from eye infections. Now, Onyx has made a full recovery and is back to being the happy dog he once was.
Eternally Grateful
“From seeing him that day until now, it’s like wow. I didn’t think he could ever get this far back,” Trevor said. “We’re very thankful, he’s our hero,” Sierra said about the family’s beloved dog. “If he was not outside and we had decided to have him sleep inside that night, we wouldn’t have gotten up and God only knows what would have happened.”
Community Rallies Behind Injured Pit Bull When They Discover His Heroic Act is an article from: LifeDaily