Donya DeLuca from Tampa, Florida spotted an adorable two-year-old German shepherd at a local animal shelter and instantly fell in love with the majestic four-footer. At first, Donya’s husband Adam wasn’t too thrilled about adopting a new dog, but this German shepherd quickly managed to win the hearts of the entire family.
“We had recently lost our family dog, who had been with us for 13 years,” Donya said to TODAY. “So he looked at me like, ‘Are you serious?’ But I just couldn’t pass up the chance to rescue him.”
The German shepherd answered to the name ‘Haus’ and quickly befriended seven-year-old Molly and four-year-old Joey. The DeLuca family couldn’t be any happier with their new best friend, and Haus was elated to finally have a loving home again.
“He just bonded with all of us so quickly, it was like he was always part of our home,” Donya recalls. “Even the neighbors took to him. It was meant to be.
“Especially at night, he’s very protective of the kids. He follows them around, he takes cares of them.”
It was that protective characteristic that ended up saving Molly’s life.
One day, a rattlesnake came face to face with the little girl and her grandma. Dogs are known to be loyal and brave, and Haus certainly wasn’t an exception.
Without hesitation, the courageous German shepherd immediately ran between the little girl and the dangerous rattlesnake.
“He instantly positioned himself between the snake and Molly, so at first, she and her grandma didn’t even realize what he was staring at — but then all of a sudden there was all of this blood,” Donya mentioned.
The whole incident occurred rather quickly, and the family quickly realized that the rattlesnake had struck.
Haus was bitten three times in his front leg, preventing the venomous snake from attacking Molly and her grandmother.
At one point, the pup’s medical condition was pretty bad and even critical. Luckily, Haus was able to pull through thanks to treatment in an emergency veterinary hospital and constant doses of antidote. After a couple of days, doctors assured that Haus would have a long road ahead of him, but would make a full recovery otherwise.
“It’s semi-miraculous, his condition,” she said. “What keeps me going is how he still flicks his tail every time he sees me come into his kennel, even though I know he’s hurting. “I can tell that his mindset is to keep going, his personality is just tremendous like that.”
After the incident, the DeLuca family organized a fundraiser via a GoFundMe page to pay for medical bills. More than $51,000 was crowdfunded by almost 2,000 different people, greatly surpassing their goal of ‘just’ $28,000. The entire family was stunned by the overwhelming generosity they witnessed from all over the world.
“Everyone’s generosity is allowing him to live, and we’re so touched and overwhelmed,” she said. “I have people from Sweden — and I don’t even know anyone in Sweden — reaching out and donating. It’s crazy. This is setting such a good example for my kids, too, to show them that there is good in the world and that when you’re struggling, people will help you.”
This pup’s brave actions may have very well saved the lives of Molly and her grandmother. A true hero dog!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
