Tara the Hero Cat

On 13 May 2014, in Bakersfield, California, a four-year-old boy named Jeremy Triantafilo was riding his bicycle on the driveway of his family home when a neighbour's dog escaped, crept up behind him, and seized his leg in its jaws, dragging him from the bike. What happened next was captured on the family's home security cameras and astonished the world. The family cat, Tara, came charging across the driveway at full speed, slammed into the much larger dog, and drove it off — then immediately turned to chase it away from the boy before returning to check on him. The dog released Jeremy, who needed stitches but recovered fully. The CCTV footage, posted to YouTube by Jeremy's father, was viewed millions of times within days and turned Tara into an international hero. She was honoured by the Bakersfield Condors ice hockey team, who invited her to throw the ceremonial first puck, and she received the inaugural 'Hero Dog Award' special recognition from the SPCA Los Angeles — believed to be the first time a cat had won the dog-centric award. Tara's intervention became one of the most-cited examples of feline loyalty and protective behaviour ever recorded on camera.