Heroic Dogs
in history
5) Barry, the superdog of Switzerland
1800
Barry worked as a rescue dog in the mountains of Switzerland near a monastary in Great St. Bernard pass, where he also lived. During the 12 years that Barry lived there (1800-1812), he is credited with rescuing at least 40 people who got lost in the Alps during heavy snow. One famous tale says Barry discovered a small child on top of an icy ledge and began licking his face to keep him warm and awake, while barking loudly for the monks to find them (which he was trained to do). When the snow began to fall even harder and the monks couldn’t climb the steep cliff the two were on, the young boy wrapped his arms around Barry’s neck and the dog carried him all the way down the mountain (which he was not trained to do).
2) Hachiko, man’s most loyal friend
1924
In 1924, a professor Hidesaburo Ueno from the University of Tokyo brought his dog, Hachiko, to live with him. The two developed a routine, where the dog would see the professor off at his home and then meet him at the Shibuya train station later. Then one day, the professor didn’t show up at the train station. He’d had a stroke at the university and died. Hachiko was given away to another owner, but he would often escape and turn up at his old home. For ten years, Hachiko would arrive at the train station exactly when the evening train showed up and would wait for his former owner. Other commuters noticed the loyal pooch and began to bring him food and snacks. He even gained national attention when a former student of Ueno’s published several articles about him. One artist even built and erected a bronze statue of the dog while he was still alive. 22
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3&4) Balto and Togo, the sled dogs that helped stop an 1925 epidemic In the world of sled dog heroics, Togo and Balto are kind of like Nikolai Tesla and Thomas Edison: one arguably accomplished more, but the other got all the credit. Both were sled dogs assigned to lead a team through Alaska carrying serum for the town of Nome. In January of 1925, doctors in the area feared that a diptheria epidemic could hit the whole town, but the only available serum was in Anchorage, almost 1000 miles away. With their only aircraft’s engines frozen, officials in Anchorage decided the serum would be relayed by several teams of sled dogs. Togo’s team was chosen to carry the serum through the most treacherous part of the route, and ended up traveling almost twice the distance of any of the other teams. Balto’s team took the cargo for the last leg of the journey, and ultimately delivered the serum ahead of schedule. Because he was the one who finished the run, Balto received almost all of the glory for it -- even having some of Togo’s achievements attributed to him and a statue erected in New York’s Central Park. Both dogs however now have their remains on display in separate museums.
1) Chips, the war dog
1942
During World War II, the shepherd mix was donated to the war effort and was soon on the front lines acting as a tank guard dog in Africa, Italy, France, and Germany. At one point, he dragged a phone cable across a raging battlefield, so that his platoon could call for backup. When he and his handler came under fire from a hidden pillbox, Chips sprang from his handler and dove straight into the enemy emplacement. The soldiers inside came out moments later and surrendered, with Chips behind them. That would be impressive enough, but later that night he also alerted his squad to some approaching Italians, who were promptly captured as well. 23
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