Dogs have many uses, and guarding the house is one of the most common. But sometimes the house itself might put the lives of the family in danger, and today's story proves that dogs have their priorities in order. This Malaysian dog saved a family of five from imminent danger by waking up the family and alerting them about the fire that was about to break loose.
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This family of 5 has their 8-month-old pup Anandaveli to thank for saving their lives
Image credits: Terence Naidu
It all happened at dawn, around 5AM. The whole family was sleeping at the time, except for the puppy. The fire began to break out: though it's all speculation, the dog's keen sense of smell probably alarmed her, and she decided to alert the family that something bad was about to happen.
The dog tried to wake up 53-year-old Vimala by nibbling her face and tugging her pyjamas
Image credits: Terence Naidu
She chose to wake up A. Vimala, a 53-year-old mother of 3 children, but as one would expect, she didn't react at first, as she didn't see what the problem was. Anandaveli pulled her hair (gently, mind you), but to no avail. She then started nibbling her face and ear. She even tugged her pyjamas.
At first Vimala thought that the dog was thirsty, but when she got up, she saw that the family altar was on fire
Image credits: Terence Naidu
The woman thought that the dog was probably thirsty, but as the dog persisted, she got up and saw that the middle section of their house was on fire. Seeing this, she sprung out of bed and started waking everyone up.
“I told her to get water at the kitchen herself but when she continued to pull on my clothes, I got up to see the middle section of my house, which housed the praying altar, was on fire.”
She woke the family up, and they all made their escape
Image credits: Balai Bomba Teluk Intan
The youngest son, who's 18, helped the partially paralyzed 58-year-old N. Marimuthu to make it out safely through the fire. N. Marimuthu, who's A. Vimala's husband, has difficulty walking due to a stroke. But in the end, all of them evacuated and were relatively unscathed.
"My youngest son, Vimalan, 18, had to help my husband N. Marimuthu, 58, from the fire because he has difficulty walking due to a stroke," added the woman.
Image credits: Terence Naidu
The whole house burned down, but thankfully, all of the family made it out safely
Image credits: Terence Naidu
Needless to say, the whole family was grateful for the dog's heroic act. Anandaveli got a few minor burns but received proper care immediately.
Image credits: Terence Naidu
A. Vimala told that Anandaveli almost didn’t survive her infancy, and she had to feed her with a bottle to save her
Image credits: Terence Naidu
“I nursed her back to health. I even bottle-fed her,” she said, thanking the puppy for saving the family.
Terence Naidu, a local politician, provided the family with financial aid and provisions, and helped fill the form for temporary housing
Image credits: Terence Naidu
Thanks to the dog, the deed has mobilized local support. A local politician, Terence Naidu, provided the family with provisions and financial support and helped them apply for temporary housing.
Image credits: Terence Naidu
Terence also started a transparent fundraiser to cover the damages and the costs for rebuilding the house. The family promised to donate the excess funds to local animal shelters. There's one more interesting and wholesome coincidence that has brought Mrs. Vimala and Terence even closer: turns out they were classmates, but lost contact 40 years ago. Though some might cynically suspect some sort of nepotism at play, Terence told that he found out about this coincidence after the fact.
“Dogs are indeed man’s best friend. Who knows, a dog may save your life one day”
Image credits: Terence Naidu