If you’ve ever been attacked by a dog, especially a big one, you’ll know that feeling of pure fear surging through your veins as you stand frozen to the spot not knowing what to do.
That’s exactly what happened to a little boy from Bakersfield, California, who was innocently minding his own business, playing happily in his front yard , when boom! Out of nowhere a dog arrived and attacked him.
The neighbor’s dog just appeared, as you can see in the video above, and made straight for the toddler on his bike, viciously pulling him off. The dog was clearly in a pretty bad mood that day.
With that, the Triantafilo family’s cat, Tara, leaped into action, like some kind of superhero cat, and attacked the dog by charging at it. The dog ran away thus saving the boy from what looked like some serious biting.
It all happened really quickly , as these things usually do, but the boy’s mother can be seen coming to his rescue just after Tara, the cat, bravely saw the dog off.
The boy’s father, Roger Triantafilo, posted the video on YouTube on Wednesday morning, and in the caption below, he wrote:
“My cat defends my son during a vicious dog attack and runs the dog off before he can do additional damage. Thankfully, my son is fine!”
Tara clearly loves her family; once the dog has gone, she returns to see if the little boy is all right.
Erika Triantafilo, the boy’s mother, told 23ABC that her son only needed a few stitches, and said she is grateful to their cat as it could have been “a lot worse.”
It’s not clear whether or not the neighbor’s dog will be put down as a result of the attack, but it is under observation for the time being.