Tripod To The Rescue!

An unlikely hero recently saved a Texas family from a group of armed robbers. Calamity Jane, a three-legged Golden Retriever, had already survived being shot herself. Perhaps that's why she sensed that something was wrong at her neighbors' house one night in late January. As the Koleman family was being held at gunpoint, Calamity Jane began barking urgently in the yard next door. The startled intruders fled - with the brave tripod at their heels.

The Kolemans credit Calamity Jane with saving their lives. "Things could have turned out a lot different had it not been for her," Steven Koleman told a local TV station.

Incredibly, this tripod hero had been hurt and abandoned just weeks before. Calamity Jane was discovered by the side of the road with a bullet wound. Her left front leg had to be amputated in order to save her life, and during the emergency surgery it was discovered that the poor pooch was also pregnant.

Calamity Jane was transferred to the care of Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas where she adjusted to life on three legs and gave birth to seven healthy pups: Cat Ballou, Belle Starr, Rose Morgan, Pearl Hart, Butch Cassidy, Wild Bill, and Jesse James. The puppies were just a few weeks old when their brave mama leapt into action to help the Koleman family. What a gal!