We’ve all heard stories about where dogs have saved human lives. But you’ve probably never heard of a dog that can perform emergency lifesaving procedures.
Well, now they can… or at least that’s what the internet says.
A video that was recently posted on Twitter shows a police officer receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, also known as CPR, from a dog.
The video is of a Madrid police dog named Poncho desperately trying to revive his human partner. The video shows a police officer pretending to fall ill and dropping to the ground.
That’s when Poncho springs into action.
He immediately rushes over to the officer and jumps onto the officer’s chest. He uses his weight to repeatedly launch himself onto the officer’s chest.
His actions are meant to mimic chest compressions that are done during CPR. The dog then stops and lies on the officer. He appears to be listening to the officer’s pulse as he puts his head against the officer’s neck.
He doesn’t, however, give the officer mouth to mouth.
“‘Heroic’ performance of our #Compañerosde4Patas Poncho, who did not hesitate a moment in ‘saving the life’ of the agent, practicing the #RCP in a masterful way,” the Madrid Police said on Twitter.
While the video seems impressive, the Washington Post says it’s unlikely that the maneuver could actually save a life.
Tell that to the millions of people who watched it.
Ronnie Johnson, a lead trainer at K-9 Global Traning Academy in Texas, says that Poncho’s maneuver was actually a learned “trick” rather than a first-aid technique.
“I don’t think a dog could actually do CPR,” said Johnson.
He says that CPR requires precision and strength to be effective.
The video is believed to have been more of a pro-adoption video rather than a true example of a dog performing CPR.
“The dog is the only being in the world that will love you more than you love yourself. Adopt!” the Madrid Police Department’s Tweet also said, quoting 19th-century American humorist, Josh Billings.
Either way, people are going nuts over this video.
More than 2.59 million people watched the video. It also has gotten 13,915 retweets and more than 26,254 likes.
“Omg I’m crying SUCH A GOOD BOY, TRYING SO HARD,” said one person on Twitter.
“That is amazing, and wonderful,” said another.
“I CANT STOP WATCHING THIS DOG GAWNIT,” and another.
You can watch that video below.
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