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Dog Rescues Infant in 1937 in Butte Falls, Ore.

On Oct. 4, 1937, A. R. Mansfield and his wife, Shirley, were working in the garden of their home in Butte Falls, Ore., while their two-year-old daughter, Shirley, was napping.  When a fire broke out in the cottage, flames at the door turned back Mrs. Mansfield, and her mother was unable to gain entrance through a window of the room where the daughter slept.

Mrs. Mansfield turned to Stubby, the family’s Australian shepherd, and said, “Go get Shirley.” The dog dashed inside and dragged the terrified child to a window and her mother’s arms.  Her fur afire, Stubby rushed into the woods and died.  The family was left destitute, having lost everything, including the food they had preserved for the winter. The Red Cross saw to their immediate needs and animal lovers across the country heard the story of the heroic rescue of the infant.

A marble monument was prepared to honor Stubby, and on Sunday, Oct. 24, more than 100 people, including the badly burned Shirley Mansfield, gathered in the pet cemetery of the Southern Oregon Humane Society to dedicate the dog’s memorial.

 

Sources: "Monument Erected to Dog Hero." Medford News, 29 Oct. 1937, p. 1.  "Child Rescued from Fire in Butte Falls." Medford Mail Tribune, 7 Oct. 1937, p. 1.

Alice Mullaly is a graduate of Oregon State and Stanford University, and taught mathematics for 42 years in high schools in Nyack, New York; Mill Valley, California; and Hedrick Junior High School in Medford. Alice has been an Southern Oregon Historical Society volunteer for nearly 30 years, the source of many of her “As It Was” stories.