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By H e l e n S i g n y

HERO PETS

twenty-six-year-old yang yun had a dream – to work with whales. so she took part in a competition at polarland in harbin, north-east china, to land a job working with the theme park’s famous beluga whales, mila and Nicola.

as one of the seven finalists, yun was required to dive as deep as possible into a freezing tank with the whales – all without breathing equipment. she made it close to the bottom, but at 4.5m she realised her legs had cramped due to the arctic-temperature water. she couldn’t move them and she was stuck, thinking she was going to die.

that’s when the whales came to her rescue. “i began to choke and sank even lower and i thought that was it for me – i was dead. until i felt this incredible force under me driving me to the surface,” yun told journalists later.

mila and Nicola, both 2m beluga whales, swam toward yun and nudged her toward the surface. mila at one point clamped the diver’s leg in her mouth to propel her forwards.

“mila noticed the problem before we did,” one of the polarland officials said later. “We suddenly saw the girl being pushed to the top of the pool with her leg in

Mila sensed danger and grabbed hold of yang yun’s leg, pushing her to safety

When they’re not rescuing swimmers, beluga whales Mila and nicola have a ball

tHe lifeSaving Beluga WHale

in their unique way, animals prove their love for us and win our hearts

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Can animals detect disease? The answer is a resounding “yes”, according to Wendy Humphries, 52, a mother of two from the UK.

Wendy was spurred to seek medical attention when her ten-month-old kitten, Fidge, began jumping on her right breast every night as she lay on the sofa.

“She would jump onto it every night for a fortnight. I went to see my GP because I thought it was bruised,” says Wendy.

The doctor found a pea-sized lump in the right breast. It turned

out to be cancer – which could have metastised and killed her if it hadn’t been detected so early on.

Chemotherapy and a mastectomy have saved Wendy’s life – but Wendy credits her good luck to Fidge’s sixth sense. In Germany and Japan, research dogs have been shown to accurately identify patients with cancer, but this is the first time a cat is believed to have cancer-sniffing abilities.

“I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think cats were capable of that – I thought it was only dogs,” says Wendy.

cat SniffS out cancer

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With numerous rhinos butchered for their horns, desperate south african conservationists are calling in help of a different kind. they are training sniffer dogs to intercept the rhino horn as it leaves airports and ports, and crack what is now thought to be the third-largest illegal industry after drugs and human trafficking, says Kirsty Brebner, rhino project manager for the endangered Wildlife trust (eWt).

top dog in the unit is

rico, a three-year-old Belgian malinois, a breed renowned for its sense of smell and work drive. trained as a search and rescue dog in germany, he distinguished himself with his intelligence and enthusiasm for his work, and was flown to south africa in march 2012 in a joint venture between the eWt and african consultancy for transport security (acts).

rico was put through special training by dog handler Warwick Wragg and taught to sniff out

rhino horn and ivory. in time he will also be trained to detect abalone and other wildlife products from cargo.

Now stationed at o.r. tambo international airport in Johannesburg, rico has already sniffed out rhino horn, elephant skin and ivory and several cases are being investigated by officials.

“rico’s crime-busting activities are extremely promising for the rhino cause and wildlife in general,” says Brebner. G l y n i s H o r n i n g

mila’s mouth. she’s a sensitive animal who works closely with

humans and i think this girl owes mila her life.”

the whales usually spend their days performing with two trainers

in a beautiful underwater dance depicting the “heart of the ocean”, and blowing rings of bubbles in the water. mila is known as an intelligent, sensitive animal – and can now chalk up saving a human life among her accolades.

rico, a Belgian Malinois, has been trained to sniff out ivory,

rhino horn and elephant skinrhinos’ new best friend

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Who needs a watchdog? charlie, a macaw usually better known for his love of banana pudding and fried chicken, has proven his mettle as a watch-bird.

in the early hours of a september morning, Jack dukes of arkansas was woken when two men knocked at his door. thinking they were in trouble he

pui, a thai Bangkaew dog from a rural community north of Bangkok, spends most of his time rummaging for tasty scraps in piles of rubbish. But when he discovered a

newborn baby inside a white plastic bag in a rubbish tip, he gently picked it up in his jaws and carefully carried it home to his owner, gumnerd thongmak.

pui barked loudly to raise attention until gumnerd’s 12-year-old niece came to see what the commotion was about. she and her mother rushed the tiny baby to tha rua hospital. the 2.2kg baby girl was believed to have been born prematurely, at about seven months, and needed immediate care. pui remains a local hero.

Dog finds infant in rubbish tip

guarD BirD fenDS off tHieveS

let them in, only to be beaten up as they demanded drugs.

Jack’s pet macaw leapt to his master’s rescue, attacking one of the intruders and taking a chunk of skin out of his arm. “let’s get the hell out of here,” the injured man yelled, and both ran away.

charlie’s not the first bird to be

credited with watching out for his humans. in 2009, Willie, a parrot in denver, called out to his owner when the little girl she was babysitting started to choke on her breakfast. he yelled “mama, baby” repeatedly and flapped his wings until the owner was alerted and saved the little girl with the heimlich manoeuvre.

Jessica cowley, a 28-year-old blind mother, was strolling near her lancashire, uK, home. as she pushed her one-year-old son, Jacob, in his pram, she put her trust in her guide dog, Jet. the black labrador had been with the family for five years and Jessica found it hard to function without her.

as they started to cross the entrance to a car park, Jessica suddenly heard the screech of a breaking car. Jet leapt out of her hands seconds before the out-of-control vehicle hit her from behind, sending her flying. as she lay face down, relief washed over her as she heard the sound of her baby crying – he was oK.

a local vet, who saw the accident, later told her that Jet had saved

Jacob’s life. Just as the car was about to hit, the powerful dog had broken free of her owner and rushed to save the baby, pushing the pram out of the path of the car.

“she was worried about me but once she had licked my face and checked i was conscious, she was fine,” Jessica said later.

everyone survived the crash, which had happened when the car was hit from behind by another vehicle. although Jacob fell out of the pram, his only injury was a cut lip. Jet had not been trained as a rescue animal, but she instinctively rushed to protect Jacob, with no thought of her own safety.

“she loves Jacob and thinks of him as her own,” said Jessica. “i am very proud of her.”

guide dog bravely

saves baby from car

crash

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local red cross officials rewarded Pui with a

collar and medal

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a snake-tackling terrier

south african cattle and sheep farmer Joy Weston and her spirited Jack russell, monty, were inseparable from the time her daughter presented him to her as a puppy. Fifteen years on, he still outran their two rottweilers when she and her husband Neville took them for their “morning constitutional” around their Northern cape farm. “monty had plenty of fight in him, i just didn’t realise how much!” she says.

Pony PoWer WitH Mr PBritain’s first indoor therapy “pony”, mr p, is

bringing a ray of light to sick children and the elderly. his owner, Katy smith, had the idea to set up an animal therapy practice when her own father needed rehabilitation following a heart attack two years ago. and that’s how she found mr p.

the american miniature horse, along with two others, Wish and monet, now regularly visits nursing homes and hospitals. the idea is to cheer the patients up. “i’ve seen patients who have difficulty

communicating with their carers spend time gently talking to him, and distressed residents are calm almost immediately when he arrives,” says Katy.

“he will rest his head on their bed to be petted, or give a little nudge. it’s as if he knows what they need.”

ellie the donkey takes charge

as fire started to lap around the town of paradise park in colorado, mike and

sharon guli had no choice but to evacuate their equine boarding farm. With heavy hearts,

they put two donkeys and four draft horses into an open paddock before they fled to safety.

as they left, the couple called the owners of five-year-old donkey, ellie, to see if they could pick her up in a trailer, but it was already too late. access to the town was blocked and all they could do was pray that the animals would survive.

three days later, firefighters found ellie, the other donkey and three horses grouped together in the pasture. “ellie walked right up to one of the rescuers and put her head against his chest,” mike said. it was clear to the rescuers that ellie was in charge. they believed she had grouped the animals together and kept them calm during the ordeal, which they all survived with minor burns but no serious injuries.

“over the years, i’ve seen her do amazing things. she pretty much takes care of the other donkey and horses. she’s in charge,” mike told journalists later.

Joy found out one hot afternoon in 2012. she was working in her vegetable garden, wearing flip-flops, when a puff adder crossed her path. “We collided,” she says. the snake swiftly sank its fangs into her small toe – and would not let go.

she struggled to shake the writhing reptile loose. then monty rushed to her aid, sinking his own little teeth into it and tugging until it let go. he trotted off with it to a safe distance, shaking it in triumph.

Neville arrived home to find monty standing guard over the dead snake and

Joy needing medical help for a swelling toe. he rushed his wife to casualty where she was given polyvalent antivenom – and promptly went into anaphylactic shock. an adrenaline shot pulled her through, but she almost died.

Joy’s concern, however, was for monty, who had been bitten in the fray. his neck was swollen, but like her, he went on to make a full recovery. “he didn’t even need veterinary assistance,” she marvels.

“he’s a special dog,” she adds, “and now we both have scars to prove it!” G . H .

ellie the protective donkey (above), and affectionate

miniature horse Mr P (right)

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