Sako,
a 4-year-old king shepherd who fought off coyotes to save a boy after a car accident
is getting the recognition he deserves.
Sako,
was inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame on Monday for his efforts to
protect Joseph Phillips-Garcia. The Toronto event, sponsored by Nestle Purina
Petcare subsidiary Purina Canada, honored Canadian domestic animals whose
actions have saved human lives.
In
June 2014, Phillips-Garcia, then 16, went out with his aunt, cousin, friend and
Sako for a day of fishing and wild potato picking, according to a Purina news
release. On the way home, their car went off the road and down a steep hill
more than 100 yards into the forest.
Phillips-Garcia
and Sako, the only two survivors of the crash, were thrown from the vehicle.
The teen blacked out and could barely move when he awoke.
“I
tried moving in any possible way I could. I felt my head and I looked down at
my hand, and it was just filled with blood,” Phillips-Garcia recalled in a
video released by Purina. The teen said a bone was jutting out of his leg.
Doctors would later determine he had a broken collar bone and a broken femur.
Sako,
who had lived with Phillips-Garcia’s family since he was a puppy, did not leave
the boy’s side, cuddling close to keep him warm through the night.
Constable
Kris Clark of the Lake Country Royal Canadian Mounted Police notes in the video
that maintaining body temperature is crucial for the survival of an injured
person who may be in shock.
The
dog’s assistance did not end there. Phillips-Garcia says Sako helped him drag
himself to a creek to get water and even fought off coyotes.
“We
were just falling asleep, and that’s when you hear the first couple of howls,”
the teen said. “He got up as soon as he realized their scent was coming closer
and closer, and then he just went in. You could hear them just fighting and the
bushes rumbling around.”
The
dog stayed with Phillips-Garcia until a search team found the pair 40 hours
later.
“He
saved my son’s life,” the boy’s mother, Fawn Adolph, says in the video. Clark
agrees that Sako played a “huge role” in the teen's survival.
Sako
received a medal for his valiant actions at Monday's ceremony, according to The
Washington Post. He was joined by three other dogs -- Nettle, Bella and Badger
-- also being honored for their lifesaving deeds. Over the past 47 years, 140
dogs, 27 cats and one horse have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, according
to Canada News Wire.
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