Rescuing a “dangerous” breed of dog from an abusive former owner can leave the new owners with a lot of fears. But the fact of the matter is: There are no bad dogs, only bad owners.
If you have a dog in your family, it can be hard to imagine life without man’s best friend around. They’re always there to support you, and will always stay loyal. For one family in Atherton, Australia, their doberman, Khan even went so far to save a toddler’s life.
Catherine Svilicic is a mother to a 17-month-old daughter named Charlotte. Recently, the Australian family was out in their backyard, playing with their dog Khan. Suddenly, Khan began acting very strange towards Charlotte. The dog kept trying to nudge the toddler, but she wasn’t doing what the dog wanted. The dog suddenly grabbed her by the diaper and flung her across the yard!
Catherine couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed. Khan had never been aggressive towards the child. But when she realized why the dog had done that, she was speechless: Khan had saved her from being bitten by a venomous snake! The child hasn’t seen the snake, but Khan certainly had. His quick thinking saved her life.
The dog had noticed a king brown snake, a snake native to Australia whose bite can be deadly. Charlotte was unaware of the danger, but Khan instinctively knew something was wrong. He got the baby out of harm’s way and actually put himself in the path of the snake, suffering a bite to his foot.
After the bite, the dog yelped and ran inside. He collapsed, and Charlotte rushed him to the vet. Thankfully, this heroic dog was given anti-venom quickly and fully recovered. He even ate a large meal the next morning, looking no worse for the wear from this harrowing encounter. He was the same loving, sweet dog that the family had known.
Khan has actually had a rather interesting, if difficult, life. He was actually found abandoned, suffering from extreme malnourishment and broken ribs from abuse. When he was given to a local animal shelter, they actually discussed putting him to sleep because he was in such bad shape. The vets honestly didn’t know if he could recover.
They decided to try to nurse him back to health, and he responded very positively. The family now believe that because Khan’s life was saved, he was paying it back by saving little Charlotte’s life. Had the dog not been there to stop the snake, it would have bitten the child and potentially killed her.
The king brown snake is a particularly aggressive snake. While most venomous snakes only attack when provoked or threatened, the king brown snake has actually bitten people while they sleep.