Yes, they both are…..real life heroes.  This morning I was doing the service at St. Anne’s in Anderson, and Amanda was home, outside in the driveway.  Ben was with her as well as our dog Viper.  There were tons of little kids next door in our neighbor’s back drive as well.

On the street behind our house (you can enter our house from the back and the front) a lady was out walking her small dog when a great pyrenees that lives across the street came and attacked them.   The lady was bit, and it could have been far worse had Viper not gone out to intervene…..but he did.  Viper is 70 pounds and 8 years old.  The other dog dwarfed him….but he went out and got in the way.  The dog attacked him, the lady and her dog got away and Amanda ran out to help him.

Viper got away and he and Amanda came back toward the house.  Ben was by the door crying, when the dog came toward them all for more.  Amanda threw Ben into the house and Viper went back to protecting his family.  Amanda said it was a vicious fight, and one she again intervened on.  She took a garden rake and was hitting the Great Pyrenees trying to get him from killing Viper.  Its owner finally came over and got him to leave, but did say he was supposed to be on an electric fence, which is hard to believe as he is always in everyone else’s yard.  But Amanda got bit as well and Viper had quite a bit of blood on him, but as I discovered when I got home, now cuts……he apparently did the damage.

A few minutes after I got home the police arrived, already having taken a report for the woman who was initially attacked and who had called them.  The owners of the Great Pyrenees had left apparently, as they did not answer their door.  The police could see it in their garage (one officer said that it was horse-sized). He said they generally take the dog away and quarantine it for 10 days.   But they left without him.  Fr. Dan, who is a retired police officer for over 30 years said they probably went to get a warrant to do that.  But the big thing is that everyone seems to be okay.

Viper looked horrible and was throwing up as I checked him out, no doubt form the stress.  But he has had a bath and will head to his vet in the morning.  Amanda was shaken up tremendously, but I was glad she made the right choices.  It could have been far worse had she and Viper not intervened.  That dog could have attacked one of the kids….and one of them would not have had a chance at all.

Thanks Amanda and Viper!  This picture was taken “post-attack.”  You are both my heroes.  Thanks for being so brave!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+