As a puppy, ChiChi was rescued from abusive owners. Years later, at the ripe old age of 13, the Chihuahua-mix returned the favor by saving the lives of two elderly women in danger of drowning at a beach. This month, ChiChi was voted Reader's Digest Hero Pet of the Year.
Before he became a hero, ChiChi had been living with cruel owners who thought it entertaining to beat, kick, and throw the little dog out of a moving car. Mary and Rick Lane's niece Heather saved the pup and soon moved in with her aunt and uncle in Greensboro, North Carolina, while attending a nearby college. Aunt Mary wasn't looking to bring a dog into her home, but when ChiChi came into the picture, something all too common happened.
"I fell head over heels in love with him," Mary told Paw Nation. "He's so smart and expressive," she said. "His ears perk up and do one of about 50 different things. He has so many ways of telling me what he wants to do, exactly how he wants to do it, and when he wants to do it." She fell so hard for the guy that when Heather eventually moved out, her niece graciously allowed ChiChi to stay with the Lanes.
And now, Mary and Rick have even more reason to love little ChiChi: he is a literal life saver.
Last October, Mary, Rick, and ChiChi were enjoying a day at Indian Beach on North Carolina's Outer Banks. The Lanes set up a blanket and umbrella for their dog, tying his leash to the beach chair they brought for him because, "He doesn't like to lie on the sand," explains Mary. The three sat in a row on their beach chairs, the Lanes reading and ChiChi dozing.
It was late morning when the Lanes heard a little boy in the water shouting, "Help! Help!" Alarmed, the Lanes looked up, but the boy was only joking. The boy played this frightening trick several more times, and each time, the Lanes looked up worriedly. But ChiChi didn't stir.
As the day turned to dusk, the beach emptied. Deeply engrossed in their books, they didn't notice two women in the water.
Suddenly, ChiChi leapt out of his chair and started barking furiously. "He was whirling in circles, dragging the chair behind him and making a sound we'd never heard before," Mary recalls to Paw Nation. "It was very sharp, loud, and fast. He seemed panicked and was almost twirling on his leash."
Startled, Mary looked up. "A hundred yards down the beach, in the surf, I could see two women," she says. "They were struggling. One was on her back with her head in the surf and the other woman was trying to support her head."
Rick and Mary took off running down the beach. "We're coming! Hold on," they screamed.
"When we got there, the one woman was about ten feet in the surf on her back," Mary says. "There had been such a terrific storm that weekend and the night before that the waves were really loud. There was a three-foot wall of sand then the beach sloped down."
The women appeared to be in their nineties. Mary grabbed the frail-looking woman who was desperately trying to keep her friend's head above water and helped her to shore. Rick went to the woman struggling on her back and dragged her up. She was disoriented and said she had fallen in the water when she lost her balance bending over to roll up her pants.
"Thank you for rescuing us," the woman gasped, explaining that she had just had knee surgery and would not have been able to right herself and crawl up the sloping wall of sand to shore.
"It wasn't us, it was the dog," Mary replied. "He's the one who told us you were in trouble." Had ChiChi not alerted them, the women would likely have washed out to sea. "There was a riptide," Mary says. "And as far as you could see in either direction, there wasn't one human being on the whole beach."
Mary cannot explain how ChiChi knew something was wrong -- remember, the pup didn't look up earlier in the day when the little boy cried wolf -- but he sounded an alarm when the two elderly women, who hadn't made a sound, were struggling in the surf.
"I think ChiChi has some sort of sense that we don't have. It's the only answer," says Mary. "In all the pet stories I've ever read, the animals were always saving someone they know, like their family or friend. ChiChi wasn't. He was saving strangers. I didn't know I had a dog who could do such a thing."
ChiChi meanwhile, had jumped back onto his beach chair and fallen asleep during the dramatic rescue. When the elderly women tried to pet him, he growled. "He's a funny little dog," says Mary, laughing. "He'll save your life, but you can't pet him."
Below, meet the other four finalists in the Reader's Digest Hero Pet of the Year contest.
Willie, an 11-month-old Quaker parrot, taught himself a new word when it was needed most. Willie's owner, Megan Howard of Denver, Colorado was babysitting her roommate's two year-old daughter Hannah when she left the child alone to briefly use the bathroom. Moments later, Megan heard Willie wildly flapping his wings and screeching, "Mama, baby! Mama, baby!" Running to the child, Megan could see Hannah was choking and her face was blue. Megan swiftly performed the Heimlich maneuver, dislodging a piece of food from Hannah's throat. "[Willie] calls me Mama, so he was clearly trying to get my attention," Megan told Reader's Digest. "He's loud and talkative, but what really amazes me is that he added the word 'baby' on his own."
Readers Digest's Hero Pets of the Year
Plucky Parrot
Willie, an 11-month-old Quaker parrot, taught himself a new word when it was needed most. Willie's owner, Megan Howard of Denver, Colorado was babysitting her roommate's two year-old daughter Hannah when she left the child alone to briefly use the bathroom. Moments later, Megan heard Willie wildly flapping his wings and screeching, "Mama, baby! Mama, baby!" Running to the child, Megan could see Hannah was choking and her face was blue. Megan swiftly performed the Heimlich maneuver, dislodging a piece of food from Hannah's throat. "[Willie] calls me Mama, so he was clearly trying to get my attention," Megan told Reader's Digest. "He's loud and talkative, but what really amazes me is that he added the word 'baby' on his own."
Tamara Reynolds
Fearless Feline
Winnie, a 14 year-old cat living in New Castle, Indiana, saved her family from carbon monoxide poisoning. As Cathy Keesling, her husband Eric and son Michael slept, their house filled with dangerous fumes from a gas-powered water pump. Winnie ran to Cathy's bed and started "meowing like crazy" and scratching at Cathy's face and hair. "She'd never acted like this," Cathy told Reader's Digest. Eric was unconscious and her son had collapsed in the hallway. Dizzy and groggy, Cathy somehow called 911. "One of our rescuers, a deputy sheriff, said that we could have been dead in five more minutes," Cathy said. "She's a wonder cat."
AP
Mighty Mutt
Little did Ron and Ann Gillette know when they adopted Oscar, a Yorkshire terrier-poodle mix, from the Humane Society of Milwaukee, that the mighty little mutt would end up saving Ron's life. A diabetic who takes insulin four times a day, Ron suddenly collapsed at 3 a.m. when he rose to use the bathroom. Normally a quiet and well-behaved dog, Oscar suddenly started wailing. "Honestly, it sounded like the dog from hell," Ann told Reader's Digest. "I didn't know what the sound was. Then I saw my husband lying on the bathroom floor. He was out cold." Ron was rushed to the hospital, where he was stabilized and able to return home.
Tamara Reynolds
Heroic Horse
Sunny Boy, a skittish horse who spooks easily, showed a heroic side when he saved his owner, sixteen year-old Chloe-Jeane Wendell of Vivian, Louisiana, from a charging dog. As Chloe-Jeane and her family rode their horses in a local parade, a 75-pound pit bull suddenly charged Chloe-Jeane's sister. When Chloe-Jeane jumped off Sunny Boy to help, the horse looked like he was going to run. But when Sunny Boy realized the dog was coming after Chloe-Jeane, the horse suddenly turned and jumped between them, kicking the dog in the face. "I was shocked," Chloe-Jeane told Reader's Digest. "Usually, he avoids other animals."
Tamara Reynolds
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What a good boy! And no surprise to me. I'd be lost without my canine companions, they are the best part of what this world has to offer.
I love my dogs too. We adopted rescued a chipom. She is not even two and has had 4 owners. She is the best dog in the world.
The parrot is adorable....look how he seems to be smiling with his "mama" and the little girl. Thanks for 4 great stories! :-)
Oops....I mean 5 great stories!
GOD BLESS CHICHI, Just goes to show that animals that have been abused in the past, like my baby boy Shadow, still have love for those that love them back!!!!!
I think it is great that animals especially elderly ones get a second chance. Goes to show that animals are unconditional and love us no matter how much abuse we dish out. It is PATHETIC that people inflict pain on God's animals. I have a St Bernard and also a Lab mix that are truly amazing and I would not trade them for the world. They are family members and very pampered pets. GREAT STORY
i think either the horse or the parrot are the biggest heroes cause in the others the pets simply may have done it out of instinct, reacting to a disturbance in their environment, but the parrot and the horse did knowingly saved the people, the parrot was different cause he used different vocabulary instead of the usual so he must have known what he was doing, and the horse intentionally headed the dog off and kicked it, when instinct told him to turn tail and run.
They are all hero's ghag17.
Yes, they are all heroes and it is as others have said-our feathered and furry friends are often our best friends. Still, I see what ghag17 was getting at as far as the horse and parrot. The behavior was not just instinctual, but thought out. The parrot's instinct let him know the child was in danger, but he had to choose the right word to alert his "mama." Quick learner.
For the horse in particular, the instinct is to run. Even "his" girl said that. He made a conscious effort to go against instinct and put the girl ahead of himself. That is why I would have chosen Sunny Boy. He embodied the true meaning of the word hero by setting aside his own fears and instinct for self-preservation to selflessly protect another.
That is not to discount the actions of the other animals. They were all amazing. (I was pleased to see a kitty in there, too as they are so often called lazy and selfish.)
I love stories like these. It does make you stop and think. Many people have mentioned the God and dog connection. We should extend that thought to the human world, too. That bum on the corner begging for change might be the person quicker to come to your aid.
Every animal is a hero. Big or small, they are all special and can save a life.
You forget that the dog didn't respond to the disturbance the little boy was making earlier in the day - he seemed to know the boy was joking around; however, he responded to the women that nobody else heard. I think that's more then just reacting to a disturbance.
Animals are not as stupid as some people would like you to think. I guess it is because they are smarter than the people
Original owner stupid - should have been prosecuted.
Life saving family - smart, kind.
Bratty kid prangster screaming for help - stupid -should be punished
Old ladies - stupid - should not have been there.
Chi Chi - smart.
ChiChi was a real hit on the TODAY show Aug 18th along with the Lane's. I hear he was a real charmer around NYC. He's a great example of our pets' intuition and that we need to pay attention to their queues.
Good boy Good boy!!
A few more reasons to wholeheartedly respect and cherish animals. Also to work harder and support all the organizations out their trying to end cruelty and find good homes for all of them.
This is why Dog is God backwards. They show us what it is really like to love unconditionally. I thank God every day for the blessing of these magnificant animals.
you are so right Harry! Dog is God backwards!!
I have always known, dogs are very intuitive and know when things are wrong. As all of Gods creatures do. Dog spelled backwards is GOD, so think about it the next time you see someone being cruel to one of the many 4 leggeds
i love what that little dog did and what he been through with his first onwer i would like to kick them and throw them out a window to see how they feel i happy that he with somebody that will care for him and love him i love my dog and i cant see myself with out her