AMAZING VIDEO: Cat saves boy from dog attack in Southwest Bakersfield

KERO ^ | 05/14/2014 | Derek VandeWeg, Anne Stegen

[Pyro7480]

A cat came to her best friend's rescue Tuesday when the young boy was attacked in his driveway in Southwest Bakersfield.

The surveillance video shows the boy playing on his bicycle when a dog sneaks up behind him and grabs his leg.

The family's cat, named Tara, rushes the attacking dog and chased it away.

The boy's mother, Eric Triantafilo, told 23ABC the boy needed a few stitches, but he is doing fine this morning.

[pallmallman]

GO KITTEHS!!!!!!! Like a little mini-panther!

[pallmallman]

Cats, as I have always maintained, are the ultimate fighters of the animal world. The “Sugar Ray Robinsons of the the animal world” if you will...

[Justice]

That’s one awesome cat!! Hope he left that devil dog with a few deep bites and scratches to contemplate.

[Yardstick]

Wow! That cat came on the scene with some serious velocity.

[FlJoePa]

Here's our hero:

Soft kitty
Warm kitty
Little ball of fur

[Albion Wilde]

You can see on the video as the boy gets up that he is still entangled in his bicycle.

It also looked to me like the video is spliced there, with some stuff edited out. We weren't there, so let's not judge as if we were.

[jocon307]

“I love it how the cat turns around briefly to look for the boy’s mother’s approval and then quickly turns back on pursuit of the dog.” Yes, Yes, I noticed that too.

I also like how the cat went right for his face. He’s a strong dog, he pulled that kid right off the bike.

The cat really saved him, she might have saved his very life.

Good kitty, bad, bad doggie.

[Albion Wilde]

What a beauty!!!

[FlJoePa]

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

Such a beautiful girl. And she’s earned herself an extra large helping of tuna.

[FlJoePa]

effin Reuters. When will I learn. Here's the real Hero Cat:

[norwaypinesavage]

I don’t understand why there are multiple locations for the video camera. It almost looks to me like this was a setup.

[FlJoePa]

It’s a security system. Probably motion activated. Multiple cameras. You think someone set up the wounds in that little boy’s leg?

[Justice]

She has multiple camera monitors set up around the outside of her house. She took various clips and edited them together to give the fuller picture of what happened. Why would you think its a setup?

[Spktyr]

Cats can sprint to 35-40mph. They’re *fast.*

[Spktyr]

That’s actually a standard cat engagement strategy. The cat is going for the dog’s head with the intention of blinding it. The next step is either for the cat to make its escape while the blinded opponent is unable to pursue, or if the cat believes the opponent is an existential threat that is too dangerous to live, rip open the major blood vessels in the neck and open the windpipe.

Or, in other words, if a cat decides a threat has to die RIGHT NOW, it takes out their eyes and rips out their throat. And yes, even little 7 pound Fluffy can do it.

[Spktyr]

Cat is probably also looking around to make sure doggie doesn’t have any friends with him. They *know* dogs roam in packs.

[apocalypto]

Awesome!

[Spktyr]

The Egyptians (among others) kept leopards and other big cats as pets and hunting companions in antiquity. They noted that unlike dogs, cats could be taught not to eat the game the hunter brought down when they went to bring it back.

[niteowl77]

I’ve known a few cats to be demonstrably protective of their favorite human, but this incident is really amazing. That little boy sure has a good friend.