Leo the dachshund was small, but incredibly courageous.
To honor his bravery after saving a 10-year-old girl from a bull-mastiff cross-breed, a life-size bronze statue of Leo was put up next to a children’s playground in Pancevo’s city park, according to The Huffington Post.
“I am so glad Leo has a monument, he turned out to be a real hero,” the girl Leo saved, Nikolina Vucetic told The Associated Press.
“He helped me.”
Police in the northern Serbian town of Pancevo said that the mastiff had managed to escape from its cage when the owner was away, according to the U.K. publication The Daily Mail. The mastiff had reportedly run into the street where it attacked Vucetic, who was playing on her roller skates.
The dog reportedly bit her arms and legs and dragged her back to its cage. When she screamed for help, she caught the attention of Leo, who was being walked by his owner at the time. Leo reportedly ran over and bit the mastiff on the leg, triggering a fight between the two animals.
“I was just struck dumb and unable to move, and there was a man walking his Dachshund as well who seemed frozen to the spot,” stated eyewitness Milica Panajotovic.
“But his dog which was off the leash when it saw what was happening ran over and started barking at the bigger dog, and then tried to bite it on the leg. This distracted the mastiff that turned round and started fighting with the dachshund. Of course it wasn’t a very even battle and the dachshund was badly wounded.”
Although Leo lost his life in the fight, his statue will reportedly remain in the park to teach kids about animal friendship and sacrifice.
“The idea was to raise awareness about how important animals are to us and how they are always there for us when we need them,” explained activist Ivan Kurajov.
