Zatara
SpeciesCat
SexFemale
BornZatara (Tara for short)
(2008-04-18) April 18, 2008
Bakersfield, California, USA
Known forRescuing her family's child from a dog's attack
TitleThe Hero Cat
OwnerThe Triantafilo family
AppearanceTabby cat
Awards
  • Cat Hero Award[1]
  • Special Award For Cat Achievement[2]
  • Blue Tiger Award[3]
  • "Hero Dog" award[4]

Zatara (Tara for short),[5] is a female tabby cat living in California, United States, who rescued her human family's child from being attacked by a neighbor dog named Scrappy. The moment was recorded on household surveillance.[6] The footage uploaded on YouTube[7] received over 16.8 million views in the first 48 hours.

Early life

Tara joined the Triantafilo family in 2008 after she followed the parents to their home. The name Tara was the pet form of 'Zatara', the name smugglers gave to Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo. The smugglers said it meant driftwood.[5][8]

Rise to fame

On May 13, 2014, Jeremy Triantafilo, a four-year-old boy with autism, was riding his bicycle in his family's driveway in Bakersfield, California, when a neighborhood dog, described as an 8-month-old Labrador-Chow mix,[9] came from behind and attacked his leg. The dog was pulling Jeremy down his driveway when Tara, who the family states was very attached to Jeremy, tackled the dog and chased him away, then returned to Jeremy's side to check on him. Jeremy needed 10 stitches in his left calf following the attack, but he quickly recovered and was thankful for Tara's actions, calling her "my hero".[10]

A few days later, the local minor league baseball team the Bakersfield Blaze invited the cat, assisted by Jeremy's family, to throw the first pitch at a Bakersfield minor league baseball game in Sam Lynn Ballpark as a recognition for her deed.[11] In the same spirit, Cat Fanciers' Association announced Tara as the recipient of its first-ever Cat Hero Award.[1][12]

On June 3, 2014, the Bakersfield Board of Supervisors proclaimed June 3 Tara the Hero Cat Day.[8]

On August 15, 2014, Tara was awarded the Special Award For Cat Achievement by the Cat Vid Festival.[2]

On September 26, 2014, Tara was awarded the Blue Tiger Award; an award only awarded to military service dogs.[3]

Tara became the first non-human to be named the grand marshal for Bakersfield's Christmas parade in 2014.[13]

On June 19, 2015, Tara was awarded with the Los Angeles SPCA's "Hero Dog" award, for which she also won a year's supply of cat food.[4]

On New Year's Day, 2018, Tara and her family rode in the Rose Parade on the Lucy Pet Foundation Paws for Life float honoring heroic animals.[14]

Fate of the dog

Scrappy,[15] an approximately 8-month-old Labrador-Chow mix was surrendered by its owners to the City of Bakersfield Animal Care Center later on May 13, when it began a mandatory 10-day quarantine period to determine whether the animal had rabies.

After the video of Tara went viral, websites and online petitions popped up urging the dog not be put down,[16] and calls flooded the phones at the Bakersfield Animal Care Center, according to its director Julie Johnson. Despite this, based on the observations in the kennel during the quarantine period, the dog remained classified as a "vicious" and "dangerous" animal. Therefore, adoption requests were strictly denied.[17]

At the end of the mandatory 10-day quarantine period, Scrappy was euthanized despite opposition from animal groups and online petitioners. The dog "was humanely euthanized over the weekend," May 24, 2014, according to Johnson, who noted the incident has ended far from quietly.[10][15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Tara, the Hero Cat, Receives Offers to Appear on Magazine Covers". Softpedia. May 16, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Walker Art Center Internet Cat Video Festival Golden Kitty Awarded to 8 Signs of Addiction". Walker Art Center. August 14, 2014. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Tara "The Hero Cat" to receive Blue Tiger Award in Bakersfield Sept. 26, 2014". 23ABC News. September 23, 2014. Archived from the original on October 13, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Cat Wins 'Hero Dog' Award". NPR. June 19, 2015.
  5. 1 2 The Story of Tara
  6. ↑ "Tara the hero cat video goes viral". CBS News. May 15, 2014.
    - "Cat saves boy from dog attack: 'She's a hero!' says child of his pet Tara". The Independent. May 15, 2014. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014.
  7. ↑ "My Cat Saved My Son". YouTube. May 14, 2014."This video has been removed for violating YouTube's policy on violent or graphic content"
  8. 1 2 "Kern County proclaims 'Hero Cat Day'". BakersfieldNow. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Dog vanquished by hero cat is put down". New York Post. May 28, 2014.
  10. 1 2 "Dog chased away by hero cat Tara is euthanized". The Bakersfield Californian. May 27, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Tara the cat uses charm offensive on Blaze". BakersfieldCalifornian.com. May 20, 2014.
    - "Tara the hero cat will 'throw out' first pitch at a minor league game". Los Angeles Times. May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014.
    - "Tara the Hero Cat 'throws' out first pitch at minor-league game". The Washington Post. May 21, 2014.
    - "Saviour cat Tara in California gets baseball 'offer'". BBC News. May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Hero Cat: Call the Groomer ... Cover Photo Shoot in Works". TMZ. May 15, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Her Santa claws out, Tara the cat is Christmas parade's marshal". The Bakersfield Californian. November 28, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Bakersfield's Hero Cat, who saved boy from biting dog, to be Honored on Rose Parade Float". Bakersfield Californian. December 28, 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Dog That Was Chased Away by Heroic Cat Has Been Put Down". Time. May 26, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Online petitions ask that California dog be spared". The News-Times. Danbury, CT. May 21, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Calls come in to adopt dog that attacked boy; shelter says no". The Bakersfield Californian. May 16, 2014. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014.
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