Unwanted Dog Becomes Hero When He Saves Little Girls From Kidnapper

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We all secretly think our dogs are superheroes in disguise, even if they never leave the sofa. But some are just a little more heroic than others. Meet Edgar, a brown and white Treeing Walker Coonhound who went from unwanted shelter dog to superhero overnight. Edgar’s story (or at least the part we’re most interested in) began the day Melissa and Thom Lambert turned up at his shelter.

Thom had wanted a dog for years, but Melissa had always resisted the idea. Not that she didn’t love dogs – she’d frequently take her three young daughters to the local shelter for a bit of puppy love – it was just that she thought the house was already full enough. That all changed the moment she set eyes on Edgar. Whether it was his beguiling eyes or his sweet demeanor that drew her attention first, she couldn’t say.

All she knew was there’d be an extra body on board on the drive home that day. Once he arrived at the Lambert’s home, Edgar began settling in immediately. The girls loved him, and Melissa and Thom were equally enthralled. With his easy, laid back manner and his playful ways, he charmed everyone he met. Soon, Melissa and Thom couldn’t imagine their lives without him. Not too long after, he proved exactly why they probably never should.

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The story

The night of April 28 started like any other night. The family had been out of town that day to attend a funeral, and by the time they arrived home, they were all ready to hit the hay. After putting the girls to bed, Melissa and Thom retired to their own bedroom with Edgar in tow. So far, so normal. But then a few hours later, Melissa and Thom were startled awake when Edgar began jumping around and howling loud enough to wake the dead. “He started to howl and growl like he never has before. It was with anger and violence in it. And that was incredibly unlike him”, Thom has since recalled to iheartdogs.com. It wasn’t, however, the first time he’d bought down the roof with his barks. A few days before, they’d heard the same combination of angry howls and barks coming from him, but had put it so far from the back of their minds, they didn’t make the connection. But the last time Edgar had made those sounds, a young girl living not too far away from the couple had been kidnapped.

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The Police Swoop In

At first, Melissa and Thom didn’t connect the dots. But then, as they tried to calm Edgar down, they suddenly heard what sounded like footsteps in the kitchen below. After running downstairs to check, they found the windows and doors to the house wide open. As they’d both been extra cautious about locking up since they’d heard the news of the abducted girl, they knew immediately that something was afoot.

Conscious that his own daughters were alone upstairs, Thom grabbed two kitchen knives and rushed to their bedroom. Fortunately, all three girls were still sleeping soundly, apparently oblivious to all the commotion. After waking them up and leaving them with Melissa (who’d by now taking over one of the knives) and Edgar, Thom dialed 911.

While he waited for the police to arrive, he started checking out the rest of the house for signs of the intruder. By the time the police turned up, it was obvious that if there had been an intruder, Edgar’s howls had already seen him off. After taking a look at the now peacefully dozing Edgar, the police expressed surprise that a dog so placid could have potentially saved the family from disaster. But as it turned out, that’s exactly what he’d done.

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The Following Day

The following day, the police arrested a 20-year-old man named Thomas Dewald. Dewald admitted that he had broken into the Lambert’s home with a plan to kidnap one of their daughters. He’d been checking out the area for a while, and had spent the past week walking the streets, hoping to run into an unsupervised child. After making the Lambert’s his targets, he got more proactive in his approach. But after breaking into the family’s house, the sound of Edgar’s barks soon deterred him from going any further. Edgar’s barks weren’t the excited yaps of a pup who was looking forward to meeting a new playmate. They were the warning sounds of a very angry, very protective dog that would take down any one who dared mess with his family.

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Connecting the Dots

And that’s when Thom and Melissa made the connection with the missing girl and Edgar’s strange behavior the week before. “He had gone nuts like that the Wednesday that week,” Thom says via adogslove.com. “That was night the abductor took the little girl. The police confirmed he was walking by our house that night. He’d wanted to come here first, but Edgar and I were still up, thank God.”

During his confession, Dewald confirmed he’d originally intended to take one of the Lambert’s children the week before. But having heard Edgar, he decided to change his plans at the last minute.

Fortunately, the little girl he did eventually take managed to ecape just a few hours later. But with one girl gone, he needed to find another, and once again he set his sights on the Lambert’s. Had it not been for Edgar, he may well have succeeded. Edgar then, didn’t just save the family once, he saved them twice, and quite possibly helped bring a criminal to justice in the process.

From Unwanted Dog to Hero of the Hour

“If it were not for Edgar waking us, our lives would be tremendously different,” Melissa has since shared via the Daily Mail. “He will forever be one of our biggest heroes. He has come from a shelter dog to the reason my girls are sleeping soundly in their beds right now.” Edgar’s bravery hasn’t gone unrewarded.

PETA has already announced they’ll be honoring him as a hero, while he’s become the talk of the town at the Lambert girls’ school. According to Thom, he’s also been on the receiving end of plenty of affection (and treats) from the family’s neighbors and community. Now that Dewald is safely behind bars, the family are ready to move on from the incident… but they’ll never forget quite how much they owe one little dog and his superhero instincts.

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