In 2007 a Doberman Pinscher named Khan was rescued from an animal shelter. Just four days later he would save his new owner’s baby girl from a deadly snake attack.
On the day of the incident, seventeen-month-old Charlotte Svillcic was playing in the garden of her home in Atherton, Australia. At first Khan began acting strangely, it seemed as if he was being slightly aggressive towards Charlotte, attempting to push her away from where she played.
The fact was, Khan had spotted a King Brown snake, the world’s third most venomous snake and he was trying to nudge her to safety. As the snake was about to strike the baby girl, Khan did the most heroic thing.
“Khan was really concentrating, he kept trying to nudge her but it wasn’t working, so he grabbed her by the back of the nappy and threw her over his shoulder more than a meter.”
With baby Charlotte clear, Khan ended up taking a venomous bite to the paw himself.
“Charlotte looked pretty shocked and Khan screamed, like he’d been stabbed,” said Catherine. “I realized quickly it was a snake and Khan had been trying to get in between her and the snake before he threw her” said Charlotte’s mother Catherine.
After being bitten, Khan ran inside and collapsed. He was given a shot of anti-venom by a vet and spent a night in a lot of pain but managed to survive and eat a large breakfast the next day.
In contrast to the treatment Khan endured before his rescue, Catherine said he would spend the rest of his life in luxury. “If Khan wants a gold bowl, Khan gets it. We owe him for the rest of his life.”
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