Rescue dog alerts crowd — saves stranger's life at pet adoption event

'She sat quietly at his feet, refused to budge, and softly placed her paw on his leg.'

PUBLISHED 3 DAYS AGO

(L) A man on the floor experiencing a seizure; (R) A black pitbull dog looking at someone. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Kawee Srital-on; (R) 3005Mario)

A rescue dog's strong intuition and sensibility successfully prevented an oncoming medical crisis. The entire story was shared through a Facebook post by Friends of Campbell County Animal Control on 8th June, 2025. According to NBC, the incident took place during a pet adoption event at a Virginia church when Sienna, a 4-year-old labradoodle-pit bull mix breed, suddenly left her group and approached a stranger.

The caption of the post read, "Today at our adoption event, something extraordinary happened. Sienna, one of our sweetest shelter dogs, was calmly making her rounds — tail wagging, soaking up love from everyone she met. Then, all at once, she gently broke away from the crowd and walked straight up to a man she had never met. She sat quietly at his feet, refused to budge, and softly placed her paw on his leg. It wasn’t a trick. It wasn’t prompted. It was pure intuition. Moments later, the man's wife approached and gasped: 'My husband is either having a seizure or is about to have one!' Sienna knew. Before any human saw the signs, she knew."

Black Staffordshire bull terrier/Labrador mix against a white wall. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Catherine Falls Commercial)

The staff further wrote, "This is the kind of magic that shelter dogs carry inside them — unspoken wisdom, deep empathy, and an unfailing ability to connect with us in our most vulnerable moments. Sienna wasn’t trained to do this. She simply felt it. We’ve always known Sienna is special. But today, she reminded us that sometimes the ones we rescue are the ones who end up rescuing." The moment Seinna reached the man, his wife recognized his early signs of myoclonic seizure. The stranger, later identified as Josh Davis, told NBC about his epilepsy and how he had forgotten to take his medication that morning. If Seinna had not approached the man and grabbed everyone's attention, things could have gone south.

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Friends of Campbell County Animal Control initially shared the story on their Facebook page, where it instantly went viral, grabbing the attention of many users. Seinna received a lot of love from the internet, allowing the Facebook post to get more than 3,000 likes and 675 reshares. Numerous users left supportive comments as well. Alexandra Moushegian expressed, "I am epileptic and could really use Sienna." Marsha Boyd wrote, "They should adopt her."

Image Source: Facebook | Photo by Kimberly Kingsley

Image Source: Facebook | Deborah McCormick

Lori Mitchell commented, "Maybe that family could foster her if they can't adopt right now due to already having 3 dogs. I would donate toward her care." Tracy Meador expressed, "Too bad you couldn't have taken her home, but I understand having more than you can handle. Maybe it was meant for someone to find her who has needed a sweet girl to help out in their life." Kristen David, Josh Davis' wife, also mentioned how badly she wanted to give Sienna a loving home, but unfortunately, she couldn't. She commented on the Facebook post, "We would have absolutely adopted her if we did not already have 3 dogs. We simply don't have the room or resources to take on another pup. We pray someone finds her a forever home!"

For more touching content, follow Friends of Campbell County Animal Control on their Facebook account.