Jinty, the beautiful Shetland Sheepdog, is a hero to all who know her. Jinty
has been Ann Barford's hearing dog since 2000 and has come to the aid of Ann and
others on several occasions.
The first time Jinty came to the rescue of someone was during a cold winter day
when she and Ann had just returned from an outing. Jinty went into the back yard
and Ann stayed indoors. Suddenly, Jinty raced into the house and touched Ann, alerting
her to trouble. She led Ann over to the fence that separated her property from her
neighbors. Peeping over the fence, Ann saw that her elderly neighbor had collapsed
in his garden and had been laying there for several hours in the bitter cold. If
Jinty had not alerted Ann, it is possible that the neighbor would not have survived
much longer.
Her second life-saving rescue came late one evening when Ann collapsed in the bathroom.
Sick with the flu, Ann had gone into the bathroom and closed the door. She fainted
and fell between the toilet and the wall. Feeling very weak, Ann was able to pull
herself to the door and open it. Jinty took one look at Ann and knew her owner needed
help. She ran to get Ann's husband to alert him that something was wrong.
Jinty's third act of heroism came when Ann's husband fell in the garden. While Ann's
husband Keith was trimming a hedge, he slipped and fell off the steps. Jinty immediately
sensed that Keith needed help and ran inside to alert Ann. Keith was shaken but
unhurt.
Once even when Ann and Keith were at a wedding, Jinty touched Ann's leg alerting
her to danger. Ann looked down at Jinty who immediately laid down in the signal
for danger. The fire alarm had just gone off and they were all asked to leave the
room. Though it was a false alarm, the staff and guests all commented on how quickly
Jinty went into action.
For her many heroic deeds, Jinty has been nominated for Hearing Dogs' Hero Hound
Award. She was also the first-ever winner for the Heroic Hearing Dog of the Year
award in 2003. This award is given to hearing dogs that have either saved their
owner's or someone else's life, acted above and beyond the call of duty or potentially
averted a tricky or dangerous situation.