Westminister Dog Show Contestant Tomi Saved Owner Julia Haight’s Life

Westminster Kennel Club dog show next Monday is the most prestigious canine event in the nation. All of the dogs are special. One of them can even detect the owner’s son’s sugar levels. But have any of them saved lives? One of this year’s contestants, Tomi (TAH-mee), helped save his owner’s life last October.

Julia Haight and the five other residents of her Long Island house were fast asleep when a fire started. The “normally catlike, very graceful” shiba inu jumped onto her bed and started slamming his 25-pound body into her face and the rest of her body.

Haight was then awakened and able to get everyone out of the house. Their house was destroyed. “It could’ve been so, so different,” she said.

The show starts Monday morning in the exhibition space over the New York City’s Hudson River Piers.