commentary by Patrick H. Moore
There may be no way to adequately re-create the process by which our canine friends were domesticated and transformed into “man’s best friend”. My fantasy is that in various parts of the world long ago, while our cave dwellers were holed up in their humble shelters trying to steer clear of the marauding beasts that roamed the dark night, they became aware of random canines or canine precursors sniffing around outside, intent on coming in out of the cold. Some of the more imaginative among our earliest ancestors may have offered the olive branch to the canine creatures and somehow, as the centuries passed, dog and man learned to first tolerate one another before tapping into the peculiar destiny of (man + faithful dog = unbreakable unit till death do us part).
My fantasy on how the domestication process developed is almost certainly dead wrong, however. Wikipedia, in an article, describes how dogs were really domesticated:
The origin of the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris or Canis familiaris) began from a single domestication of a now-extinct wolf-like canid in Western Europe 11 to 16 thousand years ago. This period predates the rise of agriculture and implies that the earliest dogs arose along with hunter-gatherers and not agriculturists. Conceivably, proto-dogs might have taken advantage of carcasses left on site by early hunters, assisted in the capture of prey, or provided defense from large competing predators at kills. This era towards the end of the last ice age is known as the Magdalenian period dating from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago, and refers to one of the later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe at that time.
But whatever the exact particulars of the canine domestication process may have been, we know the process took root and literally changed the world. For many of us, it’s hard to imagine living in modern America and not having dogs as honorary family members who enjoy special privileges within the family hierarchy.
But dogs do not simply give comfort and solace by their mere presence; they also alert us to marauders (who are more likely to be humans these days than saber-toothed tigers) and in some cases, our finely-furred friends will actually lay down their lives to protect their beloved human masters and mistresses.
This is precisely what happened this week in Atlanta, GE where a family’s faithful German Shepherd sacrificed itself to protect its human family from a crazed gunman in the throes of deadly road rage.
Here’s what happened, according to Charles Roberts of Opposing Views:
A German Shepherd from Atlanta reportedly went out as a hero this week after jumping in front of a group of children who were fired upon during an alleged road rage incident.
According to 11alive.com, the dog in question found itself in the middle of a tense situation when a man followed a family’s SUV to a strip mall on Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard. When the cars were in close enough proximity to one another, the gunman allegedly opened fire on a Chevy Suburban that had “at least three children” inside of it.
Sensing possible disaster, the Shepherd sprang into action jumping in between the shooter and the back of the Suburban.
“They hit the back of his car (with bullets),” a witness told 11alive.com. “The dog, I guess, jumped in front of the bullet to save one of the children and the wife.”
Another person verified the first witness’s account.
“The dog took the bullet for the kids so the kids would be safe.”
Perhaps the shooter was distracted by seeing the Shepherd fall. In any event, after shooting the canine and missing the family, the shooter took off in his blue-gray Taurus. He is believed to still be on the lam.
After taking the bullet, the Shepherd Noah got back on its feet and — in the dignified manner of dying beasts — immediately wandered off behind a nearby building, lay down and died.
Atlanta police Sgt Gregory Lyon summed it up in the following manner:
“They were fired upon and their family was terrorized. They survived that only to find that their pet is now gone. It’s sad for the whole family.”
It’s somewhat unlikely that my own dog will ever have to take a bullet to save my life or the life of one of my loved ones, but should it prove necessary, I would be curious to see how our little guy would respond. Though, actually, based on his sterling example, I would probably have to do the right thing and dive between him and the shooter thus saving my pooch and saving my family but sacrificing myself in the process.