Dogs’ sense of smell is on a different level as evidenced by their tracking skills to find food, detect drugs, and even cancer. Although generally, it would take years to train dogs for them to use the best of this ability, this dog was just looking out for her owner and ultimately saved her life.
Meet Victoria, the one-eyed Treeing Walker Coonhound who saved her owner’s life from the threatening force of cancer early. Before we delve into the dog’s heroic act, let’s get to know her first, shall we?
Victoria was once a rescue dog in the care of Magic’s Mission Beagle and Hound Rescue. As a puppy, Victoria was in the foster care of Lauren Gauthier and her husband, Benjamin. At this time, Victoria had already lost her eye which they reckoned was due to a hunting accident. They eventually adopted Victoria which authenticated their status as her official owners.
One of Lauren’s and Victoria’s forms of bonding is to sit on the couch and watch television. One day, Victoria came close to Lauren and sniffed her way around her face and stopped on her nose. Initially, Lauren thought that Victoria was just playing around. This went on consistently.
Little by little, Lauren realized that Victoria placed her focus entirely on the one spot of her face – her nose. It was evident that she had a red lump on her nose but she didn’t really mind it as she thought that it was only a scratch.
When she has had enough of her suspicions and curiosity, she decided to have a biopsy. Unfortunately, she was met with the bad news that the spot where Victoria would sniff was riddled with a skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma. Lauren admitted that as a teenager, she would often get tanned by way of a tanning bed at a frequency above the normal usage.
Immediately, she got the cancer removed before it could spread in her body like wildfire. The aftermath distorted her nose but it was nothing compared to the dog’s incredible olfactory sense that spared her owner from a life of suffering.
If you were Lauren, you would be eternally grateful too. The fact that Victoria is only a domestic dog with zero training in detecting cancer is extraordinary. She may be disabled herself, but she didn’t allow her owner to become one, and that is something.
Let’s give it up for Victoria and all the other dogs whose intention is to care and love their human parents.
Source at Inside Edition via Youtube
