They say that a dog is man’s best friend. While I cannot establish the universal truth of this declaration, I have no doubts that the statement holds true to me concerning Tiger, my 5 year old Pit Bull. Tiger is a brown, thickly muscled medium sized dog. His agile nature combined with his broad cheeks which conceal powerful jaws no doubt make him very intimidating to most people. Quite on the contrary, Tiger is a gentle creature who enjoys playing and is very eager to please.
I first met my dog at a dog shelter as my friend and I were shopping for a pet. A staff at the shelter informed me that Tiger was one of the victims of an illegal dog fighting syndicate that breeds dogs for illegal fighting. A look at the dogs battered face and scarred body affirmed this. One look at the dog’s friendly smile and warm eyes and I decided to adopt him. Since then, I have had numerous adventures with my dog and many lucky escapes.
One of the incidents that quickly springs to mind is from an evening late last year. I was taking Tiger on his regular evening walks when I decided to venture into the forest that borders the park. Tiger was very grateful for this treat for I normally kept him on a short leash and rarely let him venture anywhere near the woods.
Judging by the yelps from the dog and the regular jumping up and down, I could tell that Tiger was enjoying this outdoor experience very much. Since I still had the leash on him, I decided to release him from this so that he could enjoy himself even more. No sooner had I unclipped the chain than the dog sprung off into a well concealed path that I had not noticed before. I called out for the dog to come back to me but my calls went unheeded.
Now this was an unlikely behavior since Tiger was a well trained dog and he would never disobey my commands. For some minutes, I stood still contemplating whether to rush after my dog or to leave him to himself. After deliberating for a while, I decided to follow after him although I made a mental note to punish the dog for being disobedient.
Having decided that, I sprinted off in the direction that Tiger had taken and after about ten minutes, I made out the Pit Bull moving in a slow and deliberate manner towards an opening. I assumed that his movement was in an effort for stealth and so I followed his example and gently moved forward and at last I could see what was making Tiger so cautious.
Below us lay two log cabin houses that had definitely seen better days. However, that was not what fascinated me. It was the young couple who were trussed against a tree outside the cabins that caught my attention. Before I had time to make sense of what I was seeing, a menacing looking lanky man came out wielding a sharp dagger.
It was then that I realized that Tiger had just uncovered a kidnapping incident. The lanky man got to the couple and after a short exchange, the tied down woman cried out in what I could only assume was pain. Tiger barred his great teeth and I had no doubt that he was willing to run off and fight the enemy to the death if I commanded him to do so. However, I decided that it would be better if we informed the authorities.
As luck would have it, I had left my cell phone at home and therefore had no means of communicating to the police. One look at Tiger and I knew that we were not going to leave the hapless couple to the mercies of the scary man. I therefore signaled for Tiger to distract the kidnaper while I made attempts to free the couple.
Tiger whisked off to the other end of the compound and after a few minutes, he let out a loud howl that got the attention of the kidnapper for in an instance, he ran off in Tiger’s direction. With the man out, I took to my heels and headed in the couple’s direction. A closer look revealed that the man had also gagged them. I therefore proceeded to remove the gags and the first words that came out of the man’s mouth were to inform me that the kidnapper had a gun.
By now it was too late to retreat and so I went on to untie the ropes that held the young couple captive. I could still hear Tiger’s angry barks and I was sure that there was an ugly show down between the kidnapper and Tiger. Having untied the couple, we rushed off into the woods and I prayed that my brave Pit Bull would survive his dangerous encounter. We were still making out way out of the woods when I looked back and saw Tiger running towards us. His fine coat was bloodied but save for that he seemed to be in good shape.
We got to the park safely and after taking my contacts amidst copious thanks, the couple went to report the matter to the police. Tiger and I made our way to our home and on our way, we received curious looks from people who were wondering about our worn out looks. I smiled back and thought to myself that they would never have imagined the adventure that my heroic dog Tiger and I had just had.