There should be no question in most people’s minds that dogs are called “man’s best friend” for a very good reason. In June of 2013, Pui, a Thai Bankaew dog from the Tha Rua district of Ayutthaya in Thailand, perfectly illustrated why canines have earned such a lofty title.

The Bangkok Post reported that Pui, who often wanders around his rural community looking for food scraps, found something in a plastic bag at a trash dump that piqued his interest. Pui carried the plastic bag and its contents back to the home of his owner, Gumnerd Thongmak, then dropped the bag and began barking profusely. Sudarat, Thongmak’s 12-year-old niece, was the first to respond to Pui’s barking. Upon looking inside the plastic bag, Sudarat found that Pui had carried home an abandoned newborn, umbilical cord still attached.

Sudarat alerted her mother to the situation, and the pair rushed the baby to Tha Rua hospital. Hospital workers believed the baby girl, weighing just under 5 pounds (2.2 kg.), had been delivered prematurely. Though the baby girl was fated to a rough start in life, Pui’s instinct to save her delivered a second chance.

When Pui’s story ran in the Bangkok Post, the Tha Rua Red Cross had already been approached by five different families, all interested in adopting the baby girl. Though it is uncertain who she was adopted by, it was quite clear at the time that she was going to find a home.

Tha Rua Red Cross officials rewarded Pui with a leather collar and a medal, reported the Bangkok Post, but the gratitude didn’t stop there. A local veterinarian offered to give Pui a free medical checkup, and another local man donated 10,000 baht to Thongmak for dog food. It seems fair to assume that Pui will be treated like a local hero for the rest of his days — after saving a newborn’s life, he certainly deserves it.
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