Four-year-old miniature labradoodle, Tamaruke Dylan, has been awarded an IFAW Action Award for his contribution to human welfare, after alerting his owner that an elderly neighbour had collapsed inside her home.
While on their regular morning walk around Manly, Tamaruke Dylan stopped outside a neighbour’s unit and barked incessantly, refusing to budge when called by his owner, Amaya Tasker.
Upon investigating, Ms Tasker found the homeowner collapsed inside her home and called emergency services, which broke into the property to deliver medical assistance. The resident later made a full recovery and has enjoyed special visits from Tamaruke Dylan in hospital.
The move to include an animal in the prestigious animal hero list is a world first for IFAW, which usually recognises only human acts in its prestigious annual list of ten hero awards.
“Our awards normally recognise the contribution of a human to animal welfare,” explained IFAW spokesperson Ms McCrea. “But in this instance we’re recognising Tamaruke Dylan’s contribution to human welfare.”
The winners have been chosen from hundreds of nominations across the nation, based on exceptional work in animal welfare, or acts of bravery. Tamaruke Dylan comes from a long line of therapy and assistance dogs, which are known for their intuition and selectively bred for their commitment to human welfare.
“We hope that by highlighting some of these exceptional people and animals, more Australians will acknowledge and respect the important part that animals play in our shared world,” Ms McCrea said.
And, in turn, the exceptionally special nature of Dylan — a Tamaruke Australian Labradoodle.
