Former shelter dog credited with saving 3-year-old Michigan girl

Petunia arrived at shelter last April with 2 broken legs

A former shelter dog is now a local hero.

The Delta Animal Shelter in Escanaba, Michigan, posted the story of how this abused shelter dog saved the life of a 3-year-old girl. Here's what they posted:

Petunia arrived at the shelter last April with 2 broken legs, a belly full of carpet, broken ribs....all injuries happened at different times. Healed, her former owner recently convicted of animal abuse. Petunia has a new name ...Peanut and a new chance at life.

She has a great new home with a wonderful family....and this formerly abused dog has now Saved the life of a little girl. #DeltaAnimalShelter

Read story below:

Dear Shelter,
I must share a heartfelt story about how wonderful our little Peanut has been! She has truly been a blessing to our family and we love having her around. As you know, her background was so heartbreaking and we are so happy that we were able to take her into our home and give her the love and the family she deserves.

However, I think she still has some “sixth sense” about her past life that she has carried with her.
Today, Peanut was responsible for saving the life of a 3 year old little girl. About 11am this morning, Peanut started going crazy at our house. She was running up and down the stairs, barking and yelping. She then went and got my husband, who was in the garage working on some projects, and alerted him that she wanted to go outside. He said he could hear her running around upstairs but didn’t understand why.

He let her outside where she went barreling into the field behind our house at full speed. My husband followed her and to his surprise, he found a naked, shivering, 3 year old girl curled up in a ball. He scooped her up, wrapped her in his sweatshirt, and brought her inside. He called 911 and reported the incident. By the time the ambulance and police arrived, the little girl could only say one thing – “doggie.”

Thanks to Peanut, a little girls life was saved today. She has been such a blessing to us, and now to others. Words cannot express how grateful we are that we have Peanut in our lives and how amazing she is. She is a part of our family now and thanks to wonderful people like you at the shelter, she is alive. Without her, not only would she have been gone from this world, but the life of this little girl might have been taken as well.

WPBN reports that the 3-year-old the dog found was removed from the her home by Child Protective Services, and the case has been sent to the prosecutors' office for review.

Former Abused Shelter Dog now Local Hero Petunia arrived at the shelter last April with 2 broken legs, a belly full of...

Posted by Delta Animal Shelter on Monday, March 20, 2017

About the Author:

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.