Dog who took bullet for owners is a true Blue friend

Two years after a West Philadelphia couple rescued an abandoned pit bull from a local shelter, the silver-furred tank of love they named Blue rescued them by taking a bullet during an armed invasion of their Cobbs Creek home.

Because of Blue's heroic actions last month, Nina Taylor and Leroy Buchanan are alive to tell the tale, and thanks to the team at Penn Vet's Ryan Hospital, Blue's tail is still wagging.

Taylor, 33, and Buchanan, 50, live in a neighborhood where in last month alone 43 violent crimes and 71 property crimes were reported, according to city data.

"All you got to be doing is be letting one of your family members in or something and these [guys] come running down the street with guns. It's crazy," Taylor said. "So I said instead of doing the wrong thing that's going to get me incarcerated, I'm going to go ahead and do it the legal way and get some protection."

That's where Blue came in. Stocky but muscular with broad shoulders and a jawline that could cut glass, Blue is intimidating at first glance, especially with his metal-spiked collar. But within seconds, the 8-year-old blue-nose pit bull is a puddle of love with well-wishers.

Buchanan was making breakfast shortly before 10 a.m. Feb. 13 and Taylor had just returned from the market when an acquaintance they know as "D.I." knocked on their door. Taylor answered and D.I. pushed his leg in the door, going on and on about how it hurt. After a few moments, a second man in a black ski mask jumped over the railing from the porch next door, brandishing a gun and demanding that Taylor "'Give it . . . up!'" she recalled. 

Buchanan ran from the kitchen to the front door and twice gave the command to Blue to: "Get him!"

The gunman started to run and Blue chased him into the street, where he locked his jaws onto his leg. The man shot Blue once in his left shoulder.

"I instantly broke down," Taylor said. 

But Blue didn't break his hold. It wasn't until Buchanan gave him the clear signal that Blue let the man go. The injured dog then hobbled back inside and curled up, whimpering.

The gunman ran off and was followed shortly behind by D.I., who they now believe set them up.

Taylor stayed at the scene to speak to police while Buchanan loaded a bloody Blue into the back of a police cruiser to be taken to Penn Vet's Ryan Hospital.

Brian Brophy, a surgery resident at Penn Vet and the lead surgeon on Blue's case, said this wasn't his first gunshot victim.

"We see more than we'd like to," he said.

In the operating room, eight to 10 people worked on Blue as '90s alternative music played in the background to ease the tension. Doctors sawed open Blue's sternum to track the path of the bullet and remove a lobe from his lung.

Luckily, the bullet was not tangled up in Blue. The shot that injured him was a "through and through" one that went from his left shoulder through his chest and lung lobe and came out his sternum, Brophy said. The surgery took about an hour and Blue returned home four days later.

"Pit bulls have an inherent toughness and will to live about them," Brophy said.

Taylor and Buchanan were able to offset some of the cost of Blue's $10,000 surgery thanks to Ryan Hospital's Charitable Pet Care Fund, which provided a significant amount of funding towards Blue's care.

Buchanan and Taylor said they've told police who they believe set them up, but he remains a free man. Both have said they've seen him in the neighborhood since the incident. Police said there are no arrests in the case.

When asked if Taylor considers her dog a hero now, she said: "Damn right! That's my son."

"If he wasn't here we probably would have been all shot up," she said.

Despite his brush with death, Blue's personality hasn't changed a bit.

"He still knows who he is and he knows he's home," Taylor said.

Published: March 19, 2017 — 5:50 PM EDT

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