A dog in South Africa adopted from the SPCA into a loving forever home has repaid her owners a thousandfold after two armed robbers broke into their house and opened fire. The mixed breed, Kei, was shot in the face while ferociously protecting the family’s young lady.
Those armed intruders on Oct. 3 broke into the family’s Lakefield Benoni home; one gunman entered the master bedroom, where a terrifying firefight ensued, and was shot dead; the other man entered the eldest daughter’s room where Kei was poised on her bed ready to defend her owner.
Kei sprang at the gunman with a forcefulness that surprised him. He turned and fled, leaving a trail of blood as he ran down the stairs, and encountered the family’s Biewer Yorkie Holly and shot her dead.
Hot on his tail, Kei faced the man in the kitchen where he shot her in the face, shattering her jaw, and then escaped the house and leapt over the wall.
Kei, in a desperate bid to seek help, yet unable to bark with her terrible mouth injury, ran outside to the gate to alert the neighbors but found no one. She then bounded down to the nearby lake, where she often goes on walks, in search of help, but to no avail.
The family, desperately searching for Kei, drove the streets and after 40 minutes found her laying in the grass by the water.
They called the Boksburg SPCA and Kei was taken for treatment. She was lucky to be alive. The bullet had severely injured her tongue, blasted through two molars, and broken her jaw.
She had to be put on an IV and could not eat for many weeks to come. Eventually, though, once the doctors were sure there was no infection and an X-ray showed that all the bullet fragments had been extracted, she was taken to have surgery and have a titanium plate prosthesis put in to restore her shattered mandible.
They wrote: “We are so blessed and your acts of kindness have helped ease the trauma for us. THANK YOU to each and everyone of you for all you have done for our Kei and our family ???”
They added: “With all the generosity we have received from far and wide, we’ve chosen to donate all remaining funds to the Boksburg SPCA in loving memory of our sweet little Angel Holly.”
The SPCA in turn hailed Kei a hero dog and lauded the benefits of adopting a loyal pooch who will surely repay the favor given half a chance.
“This is a beautiful example of how an unwanted, cross breed, SPCA animal can go from ‘zero to hero,’” they wrote. “There are thousands of dogs just like Kei sitting in SPCAs around the country, waiting to be adopted. Look after your pets and we promise, they'll look after you!”
