Kabang, a mixed-breed dog from the Philippines, lost her upper jaw and her snout in a heroic rescue.  After spending eight months receiving treatment in the U.S., Kabang is returning home.

The now two-year old dog was injured in a December 2011 incident.  A motorcycle was headed for his owner’s daughter and niece.  Kabang jumped into the path of the oncoming motorcycle, saving the two girls’ lives and causing her to sustain severe injuries in the process.

Kabang’s owners were asked to bring the dog into the city pound to be euthanized, but the owners objected.  The heroic tale was shared around the world and donations poured in for Kabang’s care.  Raising more than enough to cover her treatment costs and some future medical expenses, Kabang headed to the U.S. for a specialized surgery.

A veterinarian from the Philippines accompanied Kabang on her trip.  The dog was treated at the veterinary hospital at UC Davis.  First, the doctors focused on treating all of her other conditions, including heartworm and a tumor.  Then, they focused on the missing portions of her face, but were not able to reconstruct the snout or jaw.  Instead, the doctors took skin from other portions of her body to cover up the sensitive areas of the face.

Kabang is not the first canine hero to receive media attention.  Though her surgery and worldwide donations for treatment make her case unique, dogs have shown a high capacity to protect those that they love.  Dogs have heightened senses that help alert them to potential dangers.

In November 2012, a three-legged blind and deaf dog realized that his owner’s house was on fire.  The owner and her baby son were able to get out of the house unharmed, an unlikely result without the dog there to alert them.

In 2006, a five-month-old English Cocker Spaniel by the name of Honey was involved in a car accident where her owner’s SUV rolled over and got stuck in a ravine.  The owner managed to free Honey, who found someone to help half a mile away and brought him back to the scene of the accident.

In February 2010, stray dogs in Afghanistan confronted a suicide bomber.  Three dogs barked and snarled at the man, who detonated his bomb at the entrance of the barracks instead of inside as he had planned.  While one of the dogs died, the others and all of the people at the barracks survived.