Abused shelter dog Peanut a hero after ‘going nuts’ to save little girl

FOUND shivering, naked and curled up in a ditch in freezing conditions, a three-year-old girl had just one word for her rescuers: “Doggie”.

Peanut, the shelter dog who saved a three-year-old girl. Picture: Facebook/Delta Animal Shelter.

A THREE-YEAR-OLD girl was found naked and freezing in a ditch after a rescue shelter dog barked to alert her owner she needed to be outside, then led him to the child.

Peanut, was saved last year from a rescue shelter in the US state of Michigan, and is being hailed a hero after the usually timid hound started “acting crazy” in her owner’s house.

She was running up and down the stairs, barking and yelping to be let outside.

The owners told the Delta Animal Shelter in a Facebook post that when they let her out, Peanut took off at full speed into a field behind the home.

Her behaviour was so strange that a family member followed, and discovered the little girl naked and shivering, curled up in a ball in a ditch, Michigan’s TV 6 reported.

The man wrapped the little girl in a sweatshirt, rushed her inside the house and contacted emergency services.

The usually timid rescue dog ‘went nuts barking’ to alert her owners. Picture: Facebook/Delta Animal Shelter

When ambulance and police officers arrived, the little girl said just one word: “Doggie”.

Police said the child’s parents had since been located and action was taken by child protective services to remove her and and a sibling from the home.

Meanwhile, Peanut’s backstory is being celebrated.

The mixed breed dog was taken in by the animal shelter almost a year ago, with two broken legs, busted ribs, and a belly full of carpet. Her name was Petunia, and as she was nursed back to health, her previous owners were convicted of animal abuse.

She was adopted last year by a new family and given a new name.

In a post on Delta Animal Shelter’s Facebook page, Peanut’s owner said she believes the dog has some “sixth sense about her past life that she has carried with her.”

“She has truly been a blessing to our family and we love having her around,” she said.

Recounting Peanut’s behaviour the morning the little girl was found, she said the dog “was running up and down the stairs, barking and yelping.”

“She then went and got my husband, who was in the garage ... and alerted him that she wanted to go outside.

“He said he could hear her running around upstairs but didn’t understand why. He let her outside where she went barrelling into the field behind our house at full speed.

“Thanks to Peanut, a little girl’s life was saved today.”

Originally published as Abused shelter dog Peanut a hero after ‘going nuts’ to save little girl