An Akita named ‘Hero’ saved his owner’s life last week in an incredible tale of loyalty and resilience that saw him remain by his side through two frigid Alberta nights, fend off coyotes, and eventually alert rescuers.

Winning plaudits for his name and deed the world over, a GoFundMe raised $3,000 to cover the veterinary bills of Hero by the shelter that is keeping him safe and warm while his owner recovers.

The tale began with an assault: A passerby named Curtis Dahl, who was walking through a field mud and grass in Taber near the Sugar Factory at the time, when Hero ran up to him and bit the dog’s neck.

Dahl claims he tussled with Hero for ten minutes trying to get him off his dog, and needed stitches on his finger by the end of it.

Calling police and animal service with a complain, he informed them of Hero’s existence. But when they arrived, and found Hero exhausted and lying near a terraced patch of grass and weeds, near the roadside, the officers heard an urgent cry for assistance.

Arriving, they found a 61-year-old man on his back in a ditch, shivering and unable to move. He told police he’d been stuck there for two days while Hero protected him.

While the man was taken to a hospital, Hero was taken to Taber Lost Paws Society, an animal shelter that has a special program to look after dogs during periods of crisis or injury. As it happened, the society’s acting president Alana McPhee said they had an employee who was the injured man’s neighbor and knew that he had another Akita dog named Tora.

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Reported missing two days prior, Tora eventually turned up in her owner’s yard with a disabled leg after screws and rods in her leg from a previous injury had come loose. They suspect she had been back and forth from the site where her owner fell to the home several times, or perhaps could have been fighting, though she had no bite or puncture marks.

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Once told the whole story, Hero’s dog owner expressed gratitude for Hero being rescued. He later received compensation for the medical costs to his dog and himself via CAD$3,000 that was raised from a GoFundMe organized by the Lost Paws Society.

“(Hero was protective. This dog had probably not eaten in several days. It was obvious that he could not help his owner. He appeared to be a stressed dog. He had to fight off coyotes,” McPhee said.

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