Heroic Animal-People: Part 2 of a Multi-part Series

Our first brave animal-citizen is now a Guinness World Record holder. In December 1999, disaster struck in La Guaira State, then known as Vargas State, Venezuela due to torrential rains and flash flooding. During this time, Mauricio Pérez and his family were separated from their loving Rottweiler-person companion Orion. Little did Mr. Pérez know that over the next few days, Orion would become a local legend. Reports began spreading of “The Phantom Rottweiler,” a dog-citizen who continuously risked his life to pull drowning humans out of the floodwaters. When Mr. Pérez was reunited with Orion, he was shocked to realize his best dog-friend was the heroic “Phantom Rottweiler.” Eyewitness accounts credited Orion with saving at least 37 human lives, ranging from an eight-year-old girl to an 80-year-old man, and included eight children. The dog-person hero was awarded the Honor of Valor medal by the Venezuelan government and today holds the Guinness World Record for most humans rescued by a dog-person in 24 hours.

In early 2004, the lower North Island of New Zealand was struck by torrential flooding and wind speeds of up to 104 kilometers per hour. During the storm, Kim Riley was swept away by the rising waters. Being weighed down by her wet-weather gear, she struggled to stay alive as the currents pushed her into an overflowing river. When Kim noticed a cow-person swimming past, she threw her arms around the beautiful bovine-citizen, who took her directly to shore, saving her life. Think about this heroic cow-person the next time you’re craving a hamburger…

Against all odds, some factory-farm animal-people still find a way to save themselves and others from slaughter and get a chance at the life every animal-person deserves. In St. Louis, United States, six bull-citizens escaped a slaughterhouse and ran through the streets desperate for help. “You could see the terror in their eyes. They had nowhere to go and no one to help them, but they were desperate to live.”

To stay alive, the bull-citizens worked as a team to create as much attention as possible, hoping their actions would lead to their freedom. Sadly, the six bull-people were rounded up and returned to the slaughterhouse that day. However, that’s not the end of this story. In an act of compassion, the local community of humans banded together to raise enough money to pay the slaughterhouse for the bull-people’s freedom!

Today, Chico and his brothers are “Cow-Hug Therapists” at the Gentle Barn Animal-Person Sanctuary in St. Louis, Missouri, where they help humans cope with trauma in their lives.