When you picture a hero animal that rescues a person in distress, a famous collie might come to mind. But surely not a cat, right? And yet it was a cat named Masha who proved that cats can be heroes, too.
Masha is a stray cat in the town of Obninsk in western Russia. She’s a longhair and looks a lot like a Maine coon. That lavish coat of hers has to help a lot during a cold Russian winter! But sometimes the weather is too cold even for Masha. Fortunately, there are some people in the neighborhood who let her come inside and give her food at times like that.
One of Masha’s neighborhood friends is 68 year-old Irina Lavora. When she was taking the trash out one bitterly cold winter day, she heard an odd noise coming from the basement. Listening carefully, she realized it was a cat mewing. Thinking it was Masha and that she might be injured, Irina hurried down into the frigid basement. And that’s when Irina got the shock of her life. A baby boy, three months old at most, was lying in a cardboard box. Masha the cat was right next to him, keeping him warm. “She is very calm and friendly, so when I heard her mewing, I at first thought she might have hurt herself. But clearly, it was just her maternal instincts taking over and she wanted to protect the child.”
Investigators later determined that the boy had probably been there several hours and would have died of exposure if the cat hadn’t decided to keep him warm and cry for help. The baby was rushed to a nearby hospital and turned out to be fine. Masha’s maternal instincts were so strong that she actually tried to chase after the ambulance! Word has it that people in the neighborhood have been spoiling Masha rotten with treats ever since.
There’s a video posted below about this hero cat. Know any hero animals? Tell us all about them in the Facebook comments and don’t forget to like and share.