She lost a leg.
Lilly, the 8-year-old pit bull terrier who saved her human companion, Christine Spain, from death under a train, sacrificed herself for the person she loved. Lilly's front right leg had to be amputated after the train's wheels had sliced through it. Her pelvis was also fractured in multiple locations and she sustained other internal injuries.
Spain had lost consciousness and fallen on a railroad track in Massachusetts, and Lilly used her teeth to pull Christine off the tracks as the train approached. Spain emerged unharmed.
Lilly was a stray who had been rescued by Christine Spain's son, Boston Police Officer David Lanteigne, who thought she'd be a good therapy dog for his mother, who had fought against alcoholism, depression and anxiety for many years. He said Spain doted on the dog and eventually Spain's drinking decreased. She apparently had relapsed after some bad news, which led to her collapse on the railroad tracks.
There are two lessons from this episode.
One is that pit bulls should not be put to death just because of their breed. Individual dogs of the same breed are different from each other, just as individual humans of the same race are.
This is not an isolated case. Many pit bulls have acted heroically to save their humans and others.
The story of
Lennox, the nice, harmless dog murdered a few days ago in Northern Ireland just because he looked like a pit bull, rightly caused outrage.
The second lesson to learn is how rescued dogs can give back as much as and even more than they got. Hopefully people will more and more realize that there is no need to buy them. Jut
rescue dogs and cats from animal shelters.
Spain's son Lanteigne got it right: "We saved Lilly, and Lilly saved my mom's life. My hope is that this story is going to get out and show what pit bulls are truly about. I hope by Lilly going through this, it's going to get other dogs homes."
