Heroic Dog Saves Two Young Girls From Venomous Snake In Australia

A heroic dog from Ipswich, Australia, is still recovering at a local veterinarian after saving his family's two young girls from a venomous snake that slithered into their backyard, the Queensland Times reports.

Michelle Lynch, 7, and Kaylee Lynch, 2, were headed to their backyard swingset, unaware that a brown snake -- one of the world's deadliest snakes whose venom can easily kill an adult human -- was right below the swings.

That's when the family's 18-month-old Australian cattle dog River sprang into action.

"They were going out to play on the swings and Michelle got two steps out the door and yelled out 'snake,'" the girls' mother, Catherine Lynch, told the paper. "As soon as she yelled, [River] bolted out, grabbed the snake and killed it. I think it was probably Michelle's tone of voice, River picked up that something wasn't right and she didn't hesitate."

Only later did the family realize that River had been bitten by the snake after she began showing signs of paralysis. They grabbed the snake's body from the trash bin and rushed River to the local veterinary clinic, where she received life-saving treatment.

Days later, River is making a full recovery, though Catherine Lynch says her daughters are still traumatized by the incident.

"They're obviously upset about the dog,'' Lynch told the Herald Sun. "I think the youngest didn't really know what had happened, but she threw a tantrum when we got home because River wasn't with us.The eldest has been asking a lot of questions about what happened."

Despite Australia's reputation for having some of the deadliest snakes in the world, most hospitalizations from bites and stings result from run-ins with spiders and bees, according to a report from the Australian Institute of Welfare and Health.

In the period between 2002 and 2005, there were 11,602 cases of hospitalization from bites and stings, only 15 percent of which were attributed to venomous snakes.

According the Courier Mail, 2 to 3 Australians per year die from snakes bites, with brown snakes accounting for half of those deaths.

Comments

[rowdiman]

10:04 PM on 01/22/2012

Once again, an amazing dog reminds us what unconditional love truly means.

[wfhbear]

03:16 AM on 01/21/2012

Woo Hoo!!!! Give that Pup a good tooth brushing, a full face wash, and a huge steak. Then, family "Girls" should love him up real good. What a hero!!!

Now, After reading the statistics about the all the bites and deaths especially from snakes in general and these brown guys. My comments are: These brown snakes and whatever the other poisonous ones are should be eradicated in populated areas and kill controlled in the wilderness territories. Poison, traps, guns, and machetes are all fine weapons to insure that not one snake slithers in a populated area. Six foot concrete walls around property and removal of trees overhang into property would help a lot. Oh yeah, Lawn Mowers et real low are good too.

I hope that I would never have to hear of a snake death from Australia again. Those very old friends of America can't really want those snakes around, could they?

Snakes are not on my required to protect, environmental, endangered species list. They should be exterminated all over the Earth. The sight of a snake, anywhere should bring immediate government response in "Kill" mode.

Again, Hooray for the Pup, much pleasure for those girls and their parents escape from harm, and my hope they never have an encounter like that again.

[stevec2nd]

04:23 AM on 01/21/2012

Good luck with that. Pretty hard to find and kill every snake, and then we would only figure out what good they did in the world until it was too late.

[wfhbear]

11:09 AM on 01/21/2012

At this point in our evolution I'm not sure they do anything "good". Besides Homer managed to get them all in one spot for a whacking. My final comment is "I can dream can't I"?
Thanks for commenting.
My Regards,
Bill

[nanaofmysky]

05:50 PM on 01/20/2012

What a great story. So glad the dog is ok. That is one very lucky family to have this dog. Those little girls sure lucked out when when this little pooch came along. When they bring him home they had better give him a special meal. Dogs are special creatures,very loyal and loving. I only have my cat left and he is very loveing. I had 3 dogs untill the last few months. I miss them. All 3 where very protective of me.

[Linda Wheeler Weigel]

01:26 PM on 01/20/2012

Good dog River!

[ahnree]

11:35 AM on 01/20/2012

two thumbs up mate

[Connerz1985]

11:10 AM on 01/20/2012

gosh that made me almost cry,

Dogs are man's bestfriend, but dogs are also children's protectors

[Teddi Myers]

11:04 AM on 01/20/2012

I grew up in Southern Pennsylvania where there are both Cooperheads and Rattlesnakes. As a child of six or seven, my grandfather's German Shepherd, King, did the same thing. Only he did it several times. He was always by my side as we trampled through the woods on the farm, and he always got between me and those snakes. I truly owe my life to that dog. He has been and always will be my hero. Dogs will do anything to protect those they love.

[PuertoRicanprincess]

10:17 AM on 01/20/2012

I'm not a fan of animals but this dog makes me wanna have one in the future,what a wonderful dog!, they should treat him like a king from now on, if they weren't before :)

[evecaren]

08:05 AM on 01/20/2012

River is an amazing dog. I would think not all dogs would take on a snake, especially a brown
snake. I'm so glad that Kaylee and Michelle are somewhat shaken, but okay. I'm also relieved
to hear that River is making a full recovery. Dogs are such wonderful and loyal companions
and totally devoted to their care takers, in this case the Lynch family.

[mrlhaygood]

07:42 AM on 01/20/2012

Mitt Romney would put this dog in a air tight cage on the roof of his car! Sorry limo!

[sxyartist1955]

06:44 AM on 01/20/2012

Mans best friends The Dog! faithfully devoted to our well being. Christians repent God must have given animals a soul, I personaly know some dogs that are better than some so called humans more so than vice-versa. Quick story of another amasing hound --tarrafic cameras caught a dog going out into six lanes of bumper to bumper afternoon freeway rush hour traffic to pull a fellow dog wounded and in to much pain to crawl to safety and here this other dog goes back into an unbelievably frieghten situation to save his friend.--and does it pulling and tugging his way out so truely fearless. How many men would do that ? I have to say I would have a hard time doing it.

[Cassandra Velasco]

06:35 AM on 01/20/2012

What a wonderful,brave and devoted dog! I hope she makes a full recovery. And I hope the Park Service Rangers, plus Fish and Wildlife people get rid of all those pythons that are breeding like rabbits in the Everglades. Stupid people, who bought them as terrarium pets when they were tiny, let them go when they got too big. They will grow to fifteen feet and more and weigh over 100 pounds. They have no natural enemies in Florida, no mongoose, no parasites, no birds that peck up the young, no rodents that dig up and eat snake eggs.They just passed a law against importing these snakes, why can't man learn to leave the creatures where God put them? And there are still snake lovers in business breeding these snakes in Florida, for exotic colors. They are slithering all over the Everglades, devouring native creatures found no place else. These pythons will climb trees and attack birds in their nests, even alligators are on their menu! You people who hate snakes, here is your chance. VOLUNTEER !

[mr science]

06:34 AM on 01/20/2012

This, is a perfect example of why I love pets so much.....those little people are amazing......I have a beagle, a tabby cat, a tortise shell cat and 2 guinea pigs....lots of love in my house....even the cats love the pigs.....

[evecaren]

01:54 PM on 01/20/2012

What a great post. I especially liked the part in your comment where you stated
even the cats love the pigs. We (my husband and I ) have a male ginger cat, a bird
and many kinds of fish. Our cat would like to visit the bird, but the bird who is a cockatiel
would prefer he not visit and gives him funny looks. There's never a dull moment in our
house and I like it that way. Pets are the best.

[Robert Copp]

06:05 AM on 01/20/2012

Good dog I'm glad everyone and the dog are ok. And a special thanks to australia for kicking Kim kardashian out of your country now if we could kick them the whole family out of the U S A

[anitafeeney]

05:48 AM on 01/20/2012

i am glad the dog is ok wow what a wonderful pooch