Two Sterling, Illinois police officers are heroes after saving a family pet during a recent house fire.

In the very early morning hours of December 31st, 2023 the family dog, a pitbull bulldog mix named Shango started barking uncontrollably.  This woke up his human family to the realization that their home was on fire.  The entire human family made it out alive using the back door.  However, Shango, who no doubt saved his family's life was trapped near the front door.  That's when 2 Sterling police officers Alex Kraus and Justin Hackbarth arrived on the scene of the house fire and jumped into action.  Kraus talked about the moment he and his partner pulled the dog out of the house during an interview with WQAD,

When you're on a scene like that, whether it's a dog or a person, that's the most serious thing going on in that scene. Everything else is secondary... save the life and then worry about everything else later.

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They are beyond thankful that their family and dog are all safe.  After 10 minutes of CPR, the officers with the help of a random anonymous person brought that hero dog back to life.  The dog underwent treatment at a local vet and is doing great.  The family home, however, is not doing so great.  The family lost almost everything in this fire.

An extended family member started a GoFundMe to help the family out in their time of need.  If you'd like to donate click here.  So far, they've only reached $2,625 raised of its $7,500 goal.

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