The Cat Who Hit a Dog Like a Linebacker to Save a 4-Year-Old

On May 13, 2014, four-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo was riding his bicycle outside his family’s home in Bakersfield, California. His mother, Erica, was nearby, and the family cat was somewhere around the house.

A neighbor’s dog came around a parked vehicle and rushed toward Jeremy. It grabbed his leg and pulled him from the bicycle before his mother could reach him. That’s when Tara appeared.

Tara Came Running

Tara was an ordinary tabby cat, considerably smaller than the dog. She didn’t hesitate. The family’s security cameras caught her racing across the driveway, launching herself at the dog and knocking it away from Jeremy.

Instead of stopping there, Tara chased the dog out of the yard. With the danger gone, she turned back toward the house while Erica hurried to help her son.

Jeremy needed stitches for his injured leg, but he was soon recovering at home. The family later watched the camera recordings and saw just how fast everything had happened.

She Had Picked the Family Herself

Tara hadn’t arrived as a carefully chosen pet from a breeder or shelter. Years earlier, she had followed Roger and Erica home from a neighborhood park. They let her stay, and she became part of the family.

When Jeremy was a baby, Tara sometimes curled up beside him in his crib. As he grew, the two remained close, and the family noticed how comfortable she was around him.

That made the sudden rescue feel personal to Jeremy’s parents. Tara was usually a relaxed house cat who liked being near the children, not an animal anyone expected to make headlines.

The Video Went Everywhere

Jeremy’s father posted the recording online so friends and relatives could see it. Instead, people began sharing it across the world.

News stations replayed the footage and reporters started calling the family. Within days, millions of people had watched Tara rush to Jeremy’s rescue. By the following year, the video had passed 24 million views, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles.

When reporters asked Jeremy about Tara, he didn’t need a long explanation. He called her his hero.

The family suddenly found itself appearing on television and answering questions about a cat that had wandered home with them years earlier. Tara, meanwhile, still had the usual interests of a household pet.

A Hero Cat Tries Baseball

The attention brought an invitation nobody could have predicted. The Bakersfield Blaze, a local minor league baseball team, asked Tara to take part in the ceremonial first pitch before a game on May 20.

There was an obvious challenge: cats aren’t known for throwing baseballs. The organizers tried dangling a ball on a fishing line so Tara could swat at it, but she wasn’t especially interested in cooperating.

With help from her owner, she eventually made a ceremonial attempt. Jeremy got to throw an actual first pitch too, which was probably a better use of everybody’s talents. A much bigger honor was coming the following year.

The Award Was Supposed to Be for Dogs

In June 2015, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles selected Tara for its 33rd annual National Hero Dog Award. For more than three decades, the prize had gone to dogs recognized for helping people.

This time the selection committee decided the rules needed a little flexibility. Organization president Madeline Bernstein praised Tara’s bravery and quick response, and the family brought her to Los Angeles for the ceremony.

Tara was seven years old by then. The cat who’d followed the family home and become an internet celebrity was now receiving an honor that had never gone to a cat before.

They crossed out “Dog” and replaced it with “Cat.”

Tara also received a year’s supply of cat food.