This Brave Pit Bull Puppy Saved A Girl From Attempted Rape

A 5-month-old pit bull puppy named Apollo was honored last week for saving his owner's girlfriend from a brutal attack.

Eighteen-year-old Maya Fairweather told the New York Post that she took Apollo, who's owned by her boyfriend, for a walk in Brooklyn in late November. 

Just after the pair stopped at a park so that Apollo could run around for a bit, Fairweather put in her headphones.

"I felt someone pull my headphones," she told the Post. "I thought it was my boyfriend grabbing me, so I turned around and smiled — but it wasn’t my boyfriend."

Her attacker, a man in his 20s who Fairweather didn't recognize, grabbed her by her jacket, pushed her onto the ground, and tried to take off her pants.

"I just closed my eyes because they say that if you see their face, they will kill you. I froze. I was really scared," she recalls. 

But Apollo ran up to the man and bit his leg so hard that he struggled to shake the pup off. When Apollo finally loosened his grip, the man and Fairweather both ran off. 

"He is a sweet dog. I never thought he would bite anyone. He never bit anyone before. He’s usually very friendly and just jumps on everyone," Fairweather said. She realizes the situation might've been very different if Apollo wasn't there to fight off her attacker.

Apollo was given presents, including a spa treatment and a giant dog cake, before being shuttled (via limo) to a ceremony celebrating him and his bravery in New York on Dec. 8.

Jean Shafiroff, a local animal rights advocate and philanthropist who organized the event, told the Post that she was glad Apollo's story was making people aware that pit bulls aren't the malicious predators they're often made out to be.

"Unfortunately, pit bulls are terribly discriminated against," Shafiroff said. "This dog acted in self-defense, and he saved this young girl from being sexually assaulted. That in my mind is a hero dog. We want to celebrate this dog."

Agreed — what a good boy!