A dog in Huaral, Peru, is getting lots of praise for taking swift action recently when its journalist owner was in danger.
Security footage shows the moment someone dropped what was reported to be a stick of dynamite in the yard belonging to Carlos Alberto Mesías Zárate, Storyful reported on Thursday.
The dog, named Manchis, began barking and ran down the stairs toward the burning object.
Zárate said his canine friend was able to “extinguish the fuse, saving my family from tragedy.”
The clip shows Manchis at the top of the stairs barking when seconds later a hand is seen dropping the device that was sparking into the small yard. The dog quickly runs down the stairs towards the dynamite, and the camera only shows the pup’s tail wagging. However, the dog continued barking to alert Zárate:
NBC News reported she tried to move the device with her nose and ate the fuse. The journalist told the outlet he is certain the dog saved his life and believes he was targeted because of the nature of his work.
He said law enforcement later told him it was the type of dynamite used in land mines, and they did detain a suspect in the case.
Central de Noticias, Zárate’s employer, said, “Due to the magnitude of the attack, specialized personnel from the National Police’s UDEX (Explosive Deactivation) unit traveled from Lima to carry out the corresponding investigations.”
The media company added, “This attack is not an isolated incident, but a serious assault on press freedom and public safety. The courageous intervention of ‘Manchis,’ now recognized as a true four-legged hero, prevented a dynamite attack from turning into tragedy.”
According to the American Kennel Club’s (AKC) website, dogs have incredible noses and “can smell minute amounts of accelerants like gasoline, which is an aid to arson investigators. Researchers have not yet come up with a detection method as sensitive as a dog’s nose, which can sniff out around one-billionth of a teaspoon,” the site read.
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