A cat named Arthur this week saved his husband and two children from an attack by an Oriental brown-headed snake, when on the way he was bitten – and died of venom.
The painful and exciting incident took place in Queensland, Australia, when the cat was playing in the backyard of a house with the two children of the family and the owner sitting in the yard. Suddenly a brown lizard snake entered the yard, one of the most violent and venomous snakes in the world that could easily kill its venomous bite humans. The one who jumped on the dangerous pest was the cat Arthur, who in his body protected the children and killed the snake.
The owner, meanwhile, was busy smuggling his children out of the yard and did not notice that the cat itself had been bitten by the venomous snake. “There was complete chaos so we did not notice that Arthur was bitten, but then he collapsed and lay on the floor. We approached him and then he recovered and got to his feet – so we thought he was fine.” That day the cat continued to function, however the next morning it collapsed again and its owner rushed him to the nearest veterinary hospital to rescue him.
It turned out that it was too late, and that the venom was deadly and nothing could be done. “It really broke our heart of Arthur’s death, after the extraordinary act of heroism he did,” the family members said.
The Australian Emergency Response Service, which Arthur was rushed to his hospital in Tenawa, issued a special obituary stating that “Arthur was very much loved by the hospital staff, who cared for him over the years. We are filled with grief with his family for his miraculous death in such a heroic act.”
The farewell message on the hospital’s Facebook page drew many excited reactions from cat and animal lovers, who wished the cat to live in heaven and miraculously praised the heroism of the pet she paid with her life to save her loved ones.