‘Stray Pit Bull protects lost toddler’ isn’t exactly the kind of headline you’d expect to read given this breed's stereotypical reputation as being violent and aggressive. And yet, as this heartwarming story reveals, nothing could be further from the truth.
It was October 2020 when a woman who was out walking her dogs in a north St. Louis neighborhood came across a little boy dressed in his pajamas wandering along the street with a large Pit Bull happily trotting along beside him.
"He looked well taken care of, he was very neat, very clean; he just didn't have [shoes] on," the good samaritan, who wished to remain anonymous, says of her first impressions of the toddler.
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Realizing she couldn’t leave the lost duo to continue their adventures, the woman started knocking on doors to see if anyone could identify the toddler and his canine companion.
Refusing to leave his new friend's side, the Pit Bull played bodyguard over the next few hours as the woman attempted to reunite the boy with his parents. It wasn’t until later in the day that the toddler’s father saw a post on Facebook and the pair were reunited.
The woman said the event highlights how important it is to get back to close, caring communities that look out for one another. “It is important that we stick together, that we help each other, that we go back to the things our grandparents used to do, that we build a sense of unity.”
And while we humans may sometimes be slow to remember just how important this is, it’s clear that our animal friends have no problem showing us how it’s done, with the protective instincts of one sweet-natured and loving Pit Bull likely being the reason that a little lost toddler stayed safe for the duration of his wanderings.
