Surveillance cameras caught a shocking moment in Bakersfield, California on Tuesday. In it, a mother’s cat is seen rescuing her young son from a dog attack.
The video, which appeared on YouTube earlier today, shows the young boy riding a bicycle home. Suddenly, a dog comes out of nowhere and runs around the family’s SUV, biting the boy’s leg. Then, a cat comes rushing out, running straight at the dog.
The dog then runs back around the vehicle and the cat actually follows the dog until it is off the property. Meanwhile, the child’s mother runs out to meet him.
Roger Triantafilo, who posted the video, added a picture of his sons injuries, noting that they were not as bad as they could have been. The 56-second video has been seen over 600,000 times in a day.
According to ABC 23 in Bakersfield, the boy’s name is Jeremy and he has mild autism. The cat in the video is his family’s cat and named Tara. Their neighbor owns the young dog.
“Tara is my hero,” Jeremy told ABC 23. Erika, Jeremy’s mother, said that she didn’t even know what really happened until her husband showed her the surveillance video. Jeremy thankfully only required a few stitches.
"I've never seen a cat do that," Roger added. “Especially ours. It just shows how much she really has a family-oriented mind set.”
Bakersfield police spokesman Sgt. Joe Grubbs said that the dog is now being held at the Bakersfield Animal Care Center, where it will be quarantined for 10 days. After that, it will be euthanized.
Their neighbor is the one who called 911 for Jeremy and his mother.