Loyal Dog Gets Shot While Saving Owner From Armed Robbers, Video Goes Viral

The video of a loyal dog who was shot while trying to protect her owner from armed robbers in Brakpan, South Africa, has gone viral.

The owner, identified as 58-year-old Lood De Jager, had been to a bank to withdraw some cash Sept. 1. The armed robbers followed him home and confronted him in the driveway of his property.

The video has since gone viral with over 40,000 views on YouTube.

The video of the incident showed the armed robbers stepping out from their car and confronting De Jager at gunpoint.

"I first noticed them when they parked behind me in my driveway. They came to the window and told me to open up, so I did. They took my car keys and I just thought, they must take my car and go, it’s insured. But then he started asking me, where’s the money; I know you have money," De Jager told South African website News 24.

Just when De Jager’s daughter attempts to close the main gate, their dogs run out to protect their owner. One of the canines leaps at the robber and attacks him following which the latter fires three shots, one of which strikes the dog.

"He shot the dog and the second shot went off through the gate and through my daughter’s pants and into the wall behind. The third shot was fired into the air," he told the website.

De Jager and the canines manage to run into the property following which the robbers leave the scene in their car.

The canine, a four-year-old Dobermann named Niki, suffered a gunshot wound to her back. She was rushed to a nearby vet for treatment and was recovering.

"She is brave. She has been trained like that. She saved my life, they would have shot me, they told me they were going to shoot me," De Jager told News 24, adding that the dog was "fine now but very mad."

He added the incident has left the entire family in shock.

"I’m scared, really I’m scared, when I see a car with tinted windows, I’m scared," he told the website.

Police were investigating the case.