BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer
JACKSON – A 1-year-old German shepherd is a hero in the eyes of his owner.
“I’ve been called a hero for the events that led up to my career-ending injury,” said Sue DesMarais, 34, of Manhattan Street, a former special police officer with the Long Branch Police Depart-ment. “I was injured in the line of duty (during a car burglary), but today my hero came in the form of my 1-year-old shepherd mix, Toby,”
DesMarais, a new resident in Jack-son, said she noticed a strange smell in her home on the morning of May 17.
“For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was,” she said.
The smell was coming from a spare room and she noted that the window in that room did not fit properly. Consid-ering that there had been heavy rain that week, DesMarais said she thought the smell could have been water damage or a mold problem.
“Hours later I was on my way out the door when Toby, who is usually quiet and mellow, began to make a fuss,” DesMarais said. “He began biting my pant leg and tried to prevent me from going out the front door.”
Toby drew his owner’s attention to the door of one of the closed spare rooms and began jumping, barking and pouncing on the door.
DesMarais responded to Toby’s lead and was surprised at what she found when she opened the door.
“A small reading light had been left on and had fallen over onto a pile of laundry,” she said. “It [began] smoldering and was probably smoldering for [a while] and had just burst into flames when Toby alerted me.”
DesMarais said her training as a police officer took over and she was able to put out the fire without incident.
“I can only imagine what kind of devastation and heartbreak I would have found upon returning home if Toby had not saved the day. This is truly a miracle, as is Toby’s life’s story,” she said, explaining that Toby was adopted from the North Shore Animal League when he was 3 months old.
“He had been badly abused by his former owner and was extremely fearful of everyone and everything except for me,” said DesMarais. “You couldn’t even move your hand fast around him without him running away in fear of being hit.”
She said that for a long time she was the only person who could pet Toby, but through positive reward training and socialization, the former scared shelter pup became a hero.
“I hope anyone who is considering getting a dog would visit their local shelter. I saved Toby and Toby saved me,” DesMarais said.