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Buster’s Heroes

August 6th, 2010

Buster before he was injured

Jodi Robinette was tired of returning to her home in Littleton, Colorado to an empty house everyday.

She felt she needed the unconditional love of a dog and knew she was ready to also return that unconditional love.

She couldn’t have known that just two months later, that unconditional love for Buster, a Chihuahua mix she adopted from The Dumb Friends League in Denver, would be thrown in the national media spotlight.

At the same time, two pit bulls would be hailed as heroes for saving Buster from an uncertain fate for at least the second time in his life.

Last Saturday morning, Buster awoke Jodi at 6:30 to go outside. “I went outside to make sure everything was ok because there are woods and I’ve seen foxes around,” says Jodi. Buster did his business and they came back inside. “He wanted to immediately go back out and sniff and play,” says Jodi.

Not seeing any danger, she let Buster out of the back door and just as she got sat down on the couch, she heard the “worst scream I’ve ever heard anything make,” Jodi recalls.

By the time she crossed the 10 feet and got out the back door and around the house, she saw a coyote shaking Buster violently in its mouth.

She ran after the coyote screaming. The coyote ran, shaking Buster as it made its way to the middle of an open field.

The coyote suddenly stopped and dropped Buster.

That’s when Jodi saw a neighbor’s two pit bulls coming after the coyote. When the wild animal dropped Buster, they stopped and surrounded the tiny, terrified 4-year-old dog.

“They were circling him and licking him under a bush,” says Jodi. Her brother had pit bulls and she didn’t have some of the biases against the breed played up by media hysteria.

“I was never afraid that the pit bulls were going to harm him, I knew they were there to protect and coddle Buster.”

The neighbor, who had been out with her pitties, brought Jodi a blanket and she had him at the Columbine Animal Hospital and Emergency Clinic within 7 minutes. Buster spent 3 days in intensive care with a collapsed lung, a crushed chest and a total of 5 lacerations so severe, they required surgery to restructure the muscles.

The surgery and hospitalization cost Jodi over $4,000, but saving Buster’s life was never in question. “I’m financially secure and was ready to take on the responsibility fully and do whatever necessary,” says Jodi.

Buster came home on Tuesday, wobbly, but able to walk and eat. He should make a full physical recovery.

As for his mental state, only time will tell. Jodi says he was shy and docile when she brought him home. “I don’t know if he was hurt by someone, but he was scared around other people and large animals,” says Jodi. “I started socializing him and gave him lots of love, we had a really good start.”

There’s one thing for sure, though, Jodi says she hasn’t been in her backyard since the incident and now only takes Buster out the front door and keeps him on a leash. Her home is a rental and she doesn’t know if her landlords, who are also friends, will fence the yard. Experts warn of allowing pets alone in yards where coyotes might be present, or sticking to a routine, as coyotes have been known to learn the routines and lay in wait for their prey.

As for the pitties and their mom, she wants to remain out of the public spotlight and has ignored all requests for interviews. “I washed her blanket and took her a half dozen roses and a thank you card,” says Jodi. “But now I think she just wants to be left alone.”

Jodi’s been interviewed by local media, as well as People Magazine. “I needed Buster, he needed me and then he was rescued again,” says Jodi. “I just think it’s a good story all around.”

Have you ever witnessed an act of heroism by one dog for another dog or other animal?

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Tags: buster, Buster's Heroes, columbine animal and emergency clinic, dogs and coyotes, jodi robinette, the dumb friends league
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