Meet sweet Calamity Jane, a rescue Golden Retriever who thinks she's a cop. Even though she had just given birth to a litter of puppies following a leg amputation from a gunshot wound and never attended police training school, she sensed her call to action and ran to save her neighbors who had just fallen victim to a frightening home invasion. (See: The Cat Who Took A Bullet Meant For a Three-Year Old.)
How Calamity Jane Found Her New Home
In North Central Texas, a Good Samaritan traveling down a rural road found the sweet-tempered Golden Retriever suffering from a gunshot wound. The kind man took her immediately to the area's animal shelter and that's when the Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas got involved. (See: Baxter The Hero Golden Retriever)
A volunteer picked her up and transported her to the loving care of Dr. Sue Hultman at Central Animal Hospital in Fort Worth. She is one of a handful of veterinarians who donate hours of their time to this organization. After examining the dog, she made the painful decision to amputate the front left leg. Shar Pauley, who had also given a home to two other retrievers from the same organization, soon adopted her. A few days later, Calamity Jane gave birth to a litter of healthy puppies.
Heroine Retriever Calamity Jane
On the usually quiet residential street of her home, one night while out for a walk, sweet Calamity suddenly stiffened and bolted towards a neighbor's house, growling and barking furiously. The other two dogs, swiftly alerted to trouble, aided their sister and began barking as well. Calamity's owner was quite surprised because the dog was so gentle that she hadn't even put her on a leash, and as she told the press: "Calamity Jane just picked up on something and charged over there." (See:The Cat Who Saved Yacht Owner From Drowning.)
Pauley noticed that there were three cars parked outside the home of her neighbors, the Kolmans, and was afraid the dog's barking would disturb those inside. Well, Thank God it did, because as she pulled Calamity by the collar into the yard next to the driveway, she heard the unmistakable slam of a car door and the rush of a vehicle speeding away. She had no way of knowing that inside her neighbors' home, nine people including two children, were being held at gunpoint by three intruders wearing ski masks. Two of them ransacked the home, stealing everything of value, and in the living room, where they had all been herded together like cattle awaiting slaughter, one gunman beat Steve Kolman mercilessly while his family and guests looked on in helpless horror. (See: The Cat Who Dialed 911.)
Calamity kept barking and scared the intruders away
The men fled after the thug beating Steve Kolman received a call from his get-away-car accomplice warning him that "there were people outside." He left the family and their guests shaken and relieved that their terrible ordeal was finally over. Kolman told the press: "Who knows what might have happened if Calamity Jane hadn't raised the alarm?" Pauley believes the because Calamity was a victim of violence herself, she might be more attuned to sensing danger in alien sounds.
Whatever the case, Calamity Jane rode again, just in time to save the day! Lately, her life is much quieter, as her sweet self is now devoted to volunteering in hospitals as a therapy dog.
See: Bretagne
