Brighten Your Day

Rescue Dog Takes Deadly Snake Bites Protecting 7-Year-Old Girl

May 14, 2016

The Deluca family rescued Haus the German Shepherd from a Tampa, Florida animal shelter. On Wednesday afternoon, he returned the favor.

The recently adopted 2-year-old dog is suffering from life-threatening snake bites after saving 7-year-old, Molly Deluca, from a possible bite from a venomous Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake.

"He kept jumping back and then forward... and he did it three times. He had every opportunity to run but he didn't," Molly's mother, Donya Deluca, told WFLA. "He was just, kind of, holding his ground."

His act of bravery resulted in three snake bites.

"Next thing we know is, there's blood and he was limping and crying," Donya told Fox 13.

Haus is currently being treated in the Intensive Care Unit at BluePearl Vet Hospital.

The Deluca family set up a fundraising page to pay for Haus' expensive medical costs. So far, people have given almost $50,000, much more than the family expected.

The grateful family wrote on GoFundMe:

"PLEASE Stop and read before you donate!!!!!!!*****Update - we are blown away by the response in the past day! We cannot thank you enough for your support! PLEASE - we feel we have plenty to care for Haus's needs; if that were to change we will let you know. Please INSTEAD of donating here donate to Heidi's Legacy Rescue - http://heidislegacydogrescue.com/donate/so others can find their own Haus. You can even do it in his name. We don't want to take this page down so you can see the story. Any monies above his medical bills will go to Heidis Legacy Rescue and other charities."

GoFundMe

As of Thursday night his health was still "touch and go." Because of the amount of times Haus was struck, the dog is on a slow drip on anti-venom.