Rescue Dog Saves Frostbitten And Unconscious Stranger In Backyard

Jagger, a rescue dog living in Watertown, Wisconsin, paid it forward this week by saving the life of a man he found unconscious in the cold.

Katey Higgins, Jagger’s mom, was taking him to her parents’ house when he signaled that something was wrong.

“[Jagger] comes through the house as [a] regular routine, and he just likes to check things out on the deck and in the back,” Higgins told TMJ4 News. “Pretty instantly, he alerted us, and he was barking toward the far back corner [of the backyard].”

Higgins and her parents went to investigate and were shocked to find a man lying in the snow between the bushes and the back of the house.

“We looked down and saw this man. It was shocking. Truly, I didn’t know if he was alive,” Higgins said. But he managed to move his head slightly in response to Jagger’s barking. The family called 911, and first responders treated the man’s frostbite and took him to the hospital, where he is recovering.

“My dad was the first one to say, ‘Wow, your rescue just rescued a life,’” Higgins said.

Higgins hopes that Jagger’s heroics encourage others to give homeless dogs a chance and support their local shelters. She adopted Jagger from the Watertown Humane Society after they rescued him from a high-kill shelter in Texas. Four years later, he helped save a man’s life. She said, “I hope that it inspires people to give back, ’cause I know I went online last night and gave Watertown Humane another donation.”