Stray dog saves boy in Siberia

For many, Russia’s homeless dogs are a sharp-toothed menace, but one mother believes her son owes his life to a local stray. When Andrei Pavlov, 4, fell through the ice while feeding ducks near his Krasnoyarsk home, it was Naida who raised the alarm. The stray saw the accident and her barking alerted a woman who has been feeding dogs in the neighborhood.

“She’s not just a dog,” Tatiyana Balashova said. “She’s not a pure bred, but she’s still very special.” Balashova who usually feeds stray dogs in Krasnoyarsk was the person who reacted to Naida’s alert. “I heard Naida barking on the pond bank, like she was calling for help. She saw me, ran up, looked at me and ran back to the pond…” Balashova quickly realized that a child had fallen into the water and rushed to find help from utility service workers, who were luckily close at hand.

“Because of the fact the boy was taken out of water pretty quickly and due to medics’ professionalism, this story had a happy end for Andrei, without any serious consequences,” Vladimir Fokin, the chief doctor at the hospital Andrei was admitted to, said. The boy has returned to his family after a few days in hospital, and doctors say his health is for now in a satisfactory state. Andrei’s mother, Elena Pavlova, was full of praise for the canine savior.

After spending her whole life on the streets Naida is now enjoying her first permanent home. Even before her rescue act a family had agreed to adopt her and give her a place to live in the village of Koshurnikovo, 500 km from Krasnoyarsk. And once they learned they had a celebrity pet, her new owners promised to give her more freedom than most dogs, and won’t be chaining her up to stop her roaming her new surroundings at will.