PITBULL SAVES FAMILY FROM COBRA

[allanboi]

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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Feb 16) – A pit bull terrier proved beyond doubt that a dog can become a man's best friend when it saved and gave its life for its master's wife and her grandmother in Barangay Lapasan here.

The dog named "Chief," saved 87-year-old Liberata la Victoria and her granddaughter Maria Victoria Fronteras from a cobra that snaked through an opening in the family's kitchen shortly around 8 a.m. Monday.

On two occasions, the snake was about to attack the women when the dog dashed from a corner and used itself as a shield.

Marlone Fronteras, an employee of Nestle Philippines who owned the terrier, said Chief seized the venomous snake in the neck with its teeth and repeatedly slammed it on the floor until it died.

The dog was bitten too by the cobra; it died a few minutes later after giving its master a farewell gaze, according to the dog owner's friends Mare Sabelita and Derf Ian dela Rama.

An organization of pit bull terrier owners here, Royale Pit Bull Club-Ancient Fraternal Order of the Pit Bulls Inc., honored Chief and gave it the moniker "grandfather" of all pit bulls in the community.

Marlone told the Malaya, that he, his family and members of the pit bull owners' group gave the dog a "hero's burial" the same day.

"We just waited for the children to arrive from school because they loved Chief so much," said Marlone.

Sabelita said Fronteras's wife Maria Victoria was teary eyed when she narrated the dog's "heroism" to friends.

"The snake was in front of us., maneuvering a deadly attack," Sabelita quoted Maria Victoria as saying. "I screamed out loud to ask for help."

Hearing this, the four-year old pit bull terrier dashed from its sleeping area to fight off the deadly snake, said Sabelita quoting Maria Victoria.

The cobra fought back and bit Chief at the lower left portion of the jaw. The dog then repeatedly slammed the cobra after it succeeded in immobilizing the snake with its sharp teeth, she said.

Dela Rama said la Victoria was watching television when she panicked and alerted her granddaughter. The old lady said the cobra was about to attack her and the dog came to her rescue.

Maria Victoria said she saw the cobra expand its neck as soon as she turned the lights on. She said the cobra looked like it was spitting as its inched closer, about a meter away, toward her.

De la Rama said the terrier, "out of nowhere," jumped on the cobra , bit it the neck, and then shook it till it died.

Moments later, the dog slouched flat and fainted, spreading its arms and feet on the floor, after killing the killer snake.

De la Rama said the dog went wobbly and lost control of its organs some 30 minutes after being bitten by the cobra; it started to urinate and defecate uncontrollably as it grasped for air and panted heavily.

The Fronterases sought the help of veterinarian but they were reportedly told that it was too late because the snake bite was near the dog's brain and the venom had already spread.

Sabilita said Marlone rushed home when his wife called him up to tell him of what had happened and the dog's master was stunned.

The Fronteras children, who treated Chief like a member of the family and who called the dog "Kuya Chief," were deeply affected, according to Sabelita.

The last thing Chief did was waggle its tail and gaze at Marlone who had just come from work, said Sabelita.

"Chief gave his two deep breaths and died. (It) was fighting and saving (its) last ounces of breath to see a glimpse of (its) master for the last two seconds of (its) life," added dela Rama.

Sabelita said he hoped people would change how they look at pit bull terriers, a breed strongly discouraged in many countries and banned because of their "cruel looks."

We never get the change to know them more," said Sabelita[b]

[godCode]

very heartwarming... farewell... master chief...

[dexterdal]

mao ng iro mo protect sa master

[tolstoi]

HAIL MASTER CHIEF!

i will give my dog a hug and some fried chicken wings when I get home..i realized it even more how dogs are valuable after reading this heroic story of CHIEF

[tolstoi]

splendid way to die master CHIEF...REST IN PEACE!

[img width=500 height=279]http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7531/untitled1qs6.png[/img]

[chrisenerpida]

chief a great dog, friend and protector.. saved a life, died a hero..

[darkdevil]

kaluoy sad uy....

[potterboy]

kaluoy. tsk. paraygon raba kaau nang mga pitbull sa ila tag-iya. tsk.

[edgeknife]

hail to the dog!!!!

[shoeless_rebel]

lo-uy sad sa snake oi. it was merely trying to defend itself from what it saw as a threat (the humans)...

cobras and snakes are not evil you know...

anyway, lo-uy sad ang dog... and what the pit did was very heroic (i have 3 pits).

good thing the old lady as well as the kid wasn't bitten by the snake...

but the underlying issue is the bigger issue... think encroachment and simple abuse of nature. maybe the snake was in search of food/prey (which is no longer available in the wild because in the first place the wild itself is no longer available) it's just impossible to think that the snake went hunting for humans...

i know for a fact that snakes doesn't bite right away unless it's hunting... it will try scare tactics first. if ni back away ang tao i'm pretty sure the snake wont go after her... i bet mu dagan sad ang snake the opposite direction. if it wanted to bite the lady wala na tana... patay na ta to ang tao. na pa-akan na ta to dayn. the death of the pitbull as well as the snake might have been avoided.

anyway, lo-uy lang gyud ko maka kita ug dead snakes. sa ako experience ang mga pinoy wala pa ka kita ug snake nya gi-pasagdan ra.. or gi-relocate. patay gyud ang snake na ma kit-an sa mga pinoy... mura naa shoot to kill order ang mga snake dinhi sa pinas. may it be the highly poisonous Philippine cobra or the non-venomous garter snake. it's just awful...

but then again... the social mindset is, a humans life is more important than the life of any other life form in this planet. so i guess what happened was for the better... i'm still happy that no human was harmed... and i feel sorry for the pit as well as the snake.

i'm just thinking outloud... hehehehe... don't mind me. i don't think i'm making sense. LOL
i have to stop hanging out with those PETA guys.

here's a lil info by the way.

kapoy post ug picture so look it up in google. but here's a list of all the cobras found in the philippines. sadly... most of them are in the brink of extinction. i believe most of us will never encounter any of these cobras in our lifetime even if we go out of the city for they will all be extinct in 20 maybe 10 years maybe less.

1.) naja sumatra: black, black and white dorsal. sometimes yellowish.

2.) Naja samarensis: Southeastern Philippine cobra, Samar cobra (most common cobra in the philippines and probably the snake in the picture)

Unmistakable. Pattern: dorsal ground colour black, with numerous light variegations, especially between scales; in juveniles, a conspicuous light line along dorsal scale rows 2, 3 or 4; pattern less conspicuous in adults; venter light, cream or yellow; one very wide (usually more than 10 ventral scales) dark ventral band.

3.) Naja philippinensis - Northern Philippine Cobra

Fairly stockily built. Pattern: adults uniformly light or medium brown, occasionally some lighter variations; juveniles dark brown, with lighter variegations, sometimes a dark band behind the throat.

i got this info from a book about snakes in asia.

i can already predict that i will get flamed for this... but it's all good. i'm for nature above anything else. and i wanted to play the devils advocate. hehehehe...