An early morning in the beginning of October, a fire broke out in a barn area in Granbergsdal north of Karlskoga. Irene Södergren had been woken up by her seven-year-old German Shepherd Otiz, which led to the rescue service being called and over a hundred cattle being rescued.
"It was really just minutes away from the fire spreading further and then our entire dairy farm with 130 cows would have burned down. We are so grateful that we were able to rescue our animals. We would likely have had to shut down our milk production and sell our fine heifers and cows. Now there is still hope for the future", says Kristin Södergren, daughter of Irene Södergren and one of the owners of the farm, in a press release from the Swedish Kennel Club.
Spårmarkens Otiz, known as Otiz, is being awarded on Wednesday as the dog of the year for its effort.
"Otiz shows through its actions that the dog is truly man's best friend", the jury writes, among other things, in its motivation.
The Swedish Kennel Club and the animal insurance company Agria are behind the award dog of the year, which has been awarded since 1989.
