Dogs, in addition to being loyal to their owners, also have a special instinct to protect their owners’ family members. There have been many cases where, thanks to the bravery of dogs, the owners escaped dangerous accidents.
The dog’s attack caused the robber to lose his gun.
At about 9:30 p.m. on May 19, 2003, three employees of Ngoc Ha gold shop on Nguyen Son street, Tan Binh district (now Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City) were cleaning up to close the shop when a young man wearing a cap covering his eyes and a mask walked in. Before the gold shop employees could say hello, the young man suddenly pointed a pistol at the female cashier and demanded money and gold in a harsh voice.
Mr. Vo Thanh Dong, a silversmith working at the gold shop, was sitting hidden inside, terrified, forgetting his life, and shouted: “Robbery! Robbery!”. The robber coldly pointed the gun at the silversmith and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Dong rushed out to hug the robber while shouting. Dong’s colleague, Nguyen Minh Luan, saw this and ran out to close the shop with the intention of locking the robber up and capturing him alive. Unexpectedly, when Luan just ran to the door, a second robber appeared, holding a pistol and pointing it at his stomach, pulling the trigger.
At that crucial moment, a Fox Terrier jumped out of the house and bit the second robber. The dog’s lightning attack made the second robber lose his grip on the gun, and the bullet plowed into the floor.
Not panicking at the loud gunshots, the Fox dog continued to rush at the robber and bite him. That situation forced the second robber to run away. The Fox dog continued to attack the first robber who was struggling with Dong. At this time, having taken the bullet out of the gun barrel, but facing the dog’s aggression, the first robber was no longer calm and hurriedly ran after his accomplice.
Hearing the shouts of the three gold shop employees, many residents living along Nguyen Son Street poured out to chase and catch the robbers.
Like cornered wolves, the two robbers opened fire wildly at their pursuers, injuring seven people, including Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, who was shot in the thigh; Tang Chi Hai, who was shot in the abdomen; Lam Phuong Binh, who was shot in the arm; and Tran Quoc Trung, who was seriously injured in the head and abdomen.
There was a family of three father and son who participated in the arrest of the robbers and were all injured: Tran Van Minh, Tran Thanh Sang and Tran Thanh Cuong. Mr. Tran Dong So was in the house and opened the door to run out just as the robbers rushed in. Mr. So rushed in to arrest them. The two men fired shots, killing him on the spot.
Examining the scene, the Investigation Police Department collected 8 blank bullets, 12 shell casings, 3 bullet heads, 1 ammunition box, all from K54 guns. The robbers fired 20 shots.
From the initial investigation results, the Police Investigation Agency determined that the robbers were very proficient and professional in using handguns, so they immediately organized a screening and screening of organized crime gangs and mobile professional criminals. However, exactly one year later, clues about this daring robbery gang were revealed.
From the victim’s testimony, the Investigation Police Department discovered that one of the two robbers had the same physical characteristics as a subject who participated in the robbery of Ngoc Ha gold shop.
Four days later, at 8 p.m., Mr. Le Van Thuan – Deputy of the Executive Board of Quarter 9, Binh Tri Dong Ward, Binh Tan District, and three militia members Tran Van Son, Tran Van Thanh and Dang Tuan Anh were on duty at the headquarters when they discovered a young man temporarily residing in the same area, named Tran Trung Hieu, riding a motorbike, roaring and weaving. The militia reminded him, but he still deliberately revved the engine loudly for a while before leaving. About 15 minutes later, he returned with three other young men using bricks and stones to attack the militia headquarters. When they saw the force’s silhouette, they ran away and disappeared.
Hieu ran into an alley. Seeing Thuan and Son chasing after him, Hieu pulled out a pistol and fired two shots. One shot hit Son’s left leg.
The Investigation Police Department entered the investigation and discovered that the gun Hieu used to shoot Mr. Son and the gun used by the robbers at Ngoc Ha gold shop were the same. Hieu was arrested by the Investigation Police Department. From Hieu’s testimony, the Investigation Police Department determined that the gun belonged to Nguyen Ngoc Tuan.
At about 3:00 a.m. on June 6, 2004, Nguyen Ngoc Tuan was arrested by the Criminal Police while hiding in a motel in Tan Phu District, Dong Nai Province. Here, the Criminal Police also found a second K54 gun. At the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency, Tuan quickly admitted to being an accomplice in the robberies of the mobile phone store, Dylan motorbike, and Ngoc Ha gold shop. The mastermind was Nguyen Van Tiep, residing in Long Son Commune, Can Duoc, Long An. In addition, his accomplices included Nguyen Van Tam, Nguyen Van Tinh, and Tran Trung Hieu.
The Supreme People’s Court of Appeal in Ho Chi Minh City on May 11, 2005, upheld the death sentence for Nguyen Ngoc Tuan and Nguyen Van Tiep for murder, robbery, illegal possession, use and appropriation of military weapons; Nguyen Van Tam, Nguyen Van Tinh and Tran Trung Hieu received sentences ranging from 4 to 18 years in prison for murder, robbery, possession, use of military weapons and concealment of criminals. At the previous first instance trial, 8 other defendants in the case received sentences ranging from 4 to 8 years in prison.
Before appearing in court, Nguyen Van Tiep told investigators that, during the robbery of the Ngoc Ha gold shop, he fired a gun with the intention of killing the silversmith. Because the dog Fox attacked unexpectedly, the bullet missed its target.
A few years ago, Fox the dog died of illness, to the regret of his owner.
Save the owner regardless of life
Recently, at 5:30 am on December 15, 2017, Mr. Bui Tuan Khanh’s family, residing in Ward 25, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, was preparing goods to sell at the market when a thief sneaked into the yard and used a short knife to break the lock of the motorbike that was the family’s means of earning a living. Because he was focused on his work, no one noticed. The thief broke the lock, started the motorbike and tried to escape.
At that moment, a dog named Chip, 5 years old, a “member” of the family, discovered the situation and barked loudly to warn. Chip is usually very gentle. Guests of the family often come and go, Chip obediently welcomes them and does not bark. Chip has never been to a training center or trained in police dog skills. In other words, Chip is just a normal house dog.
Hearing the unusual barking of a dog, Mr. Khanh looked up and discovered the thief was driving towards the gate. Panicked, he shouted: “It’s a thief, Chip, chase him!”. As if realizing the seriousness of the problem, Chip suddenly became aggressive, rushed into the yard, jumped on the thief and attacked him. The thief panicked, lost control of the steering wheel, and abandoned the car to run away. In the panic, the thief dropped his phone and a package of crystal meth. Mr. Khanh’s family reported the incident to the police and handed over the evidence the thief “left behind”.
And here is the story of a dog that “bravely fought” and “died fighting” against dog thieves that also drew many tears from the online community.
At 9:30 pm on April 5, 2017, a girl named Vo Thi Luong, born in 1994, living in Da Nang, was sitting in the house with her mother when she heard the sound of the gate being pulled. Thinking it was someone she knew, the mother went out to open the gate. When the gate was just opened, two strange young men rushed in, pointing sticks at her face and threatening her.
The family had three dogs, but two of them were scared and ran into the house to hide. The remaining dog, named Pop, 3 years old, did not run away but bravely rushed at the robbers to attack. The dog’s powerful bites made the two robbers leave their mother to deal with them. Once freed, the mother shouted to the neighbors. The two robbers electrocuted the dog until it fainted and then ran away with its body. Four days later, Pop suddenly returned with a deep wound on his snout. The wound showed that Pop had fought back the robbers to escape and return.
The story and images of Pop in his injured state were shared across the online community. Many people unanimously gave Pop the title of “the most resilient, brave and loyal dog of the year” and called him “the hero with the scar”.
However, early in the morning of April 20, 2017, when the family woke up, they discovered Pop lying dead right inside the gate. Little girl Luong guessed that the bandits had returned to kill Pop in revenge.
In the catastrophic fire in Northern California in October 2017, a dog that lost an eye because of its bravery in saving its owner was honored by a local newspaper with the beautiful words: “The Hero Dog of Fountaingrove”.
At 3:00 a.m. on October 9, 2017, Mr. Nguyen Cong Phuoc, 67 years old – a Vietnamese American – was sleeping soundly when his 12-year-old Chihuahua named Key was disturbed by his constant barking and loud scratching at the door. Unable to bear the noise, Mr. Phuoc jumped up and opened the door.
As soon as the door opened, Mr. Phuoc was horrified to see the fire spreading throughout the house. Mr. Phuoc only had time to run out of the house. When he got out of the house, he realized that the entire 12-hectare hill in the middle of the Fountaingrove forest was engulfed in flames.
Mr. Phuoc is a widower with two grown children working in Chicago. He lives alone and his dog Key is his only “friend”.
Mr. Phuoc was a case of narrow escape from the historic wildfire disaster in Northern California. Hundreds of people are missing, 31 people are confirmed dead, and 3,500 houses have been burned down. More than 8,000 firefighters were mobilized for a week to basically extinguish the fire.
Instead of running away to escape, the dog Key risked his life to stay and persistently alert his owner for 2 hours while the fire raged everywhere. That brave action caused the dog to lose an eye due to fire burns.
