Extreme wildfires have been taking a toll on families in Northern California.
Although wildfires are a natural phenomenon that many Californians are used to, what’s happened in Santa Rosa this year has been unusual and much more damaging than expected. While lots of properties have been damaged and people have lost their homes and possessions, some unusual stories of loyalty and heroism have come out of these events as well.
Once of these incredible stories involves a goat-herding dog.
Everything happened on a man named Roland Hendel’s farm.
The Tubbs Fire as it’s been called in the media as a wildfire that’s currently burning in the Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties of Northern California. Hendel’s farm was located in Santa Rosa when the fires were closing in on his home. In the chaos, Hendel and his family packed up all their most vital belongings as well as all their pets in the car.
But one of the pets refused to leave the property.
As the fires closed in, Hendel’s Great Pyrenees named Odin was standing his ground.
Odin was a goat-herding dog on the Hendel farm—and despite the family’s wishes, there would be no way to evacuate a herd of goats with the fires closing in so quickly. Seeing that the flames were closing in, the Hendel family said a sad goodbye to Odin when they saw he wouldn’t be swayed and drove off.
After the fire had died down several days later, they returned to their property and were amazed at what they saw.
Against all odds, Odin was still alive—and with all the goats he’d sworn to protect!
Upon closer inspection, the family saw that Odin had singed fur, an injured leg and other minor scrapes and injuries. Still, he was doing great all things considered! In addition to protecting all the goats he’d been in charge of, the brave dog had also seemingly adopted several does which must have been fleeing the area as well.
Needless to say, Odin showed world-class bravery in an impossible situation.
After all that Odin and the Handel’s animals had been through, they were worse for wear and needed medical help and support. The family has created a YouCaring page to raise funds for Odin’s medical care and for rebuilding costs to take care of some of the animals. For those who were moved by this story, consider donating through the link above.
Amazing work, Odin!
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