Dog tackled by ‘hero cat’ during attack of boy is euthanized

A dog seen in a security video lunging at a 4-year-old Bakersfield boy and then being pounced on and chased away by the family cat has been euthanized.

The dog, an 8-month-old Labrador-Chow mix, was euthanized over the weekend after receiving the owner’s consent, the Associated Press reported.

A YouTube video showing the family cat named Tara charging, tackling and then chasing off the dog as it attacks Jeremy Triantafilo earlier this month went viral and pushed the family into a global spotlight.

After Jeremy, who required 10 stitches after the dog attack, called his cat a hero, the tabby was quickly dubbed by the media as Tara the hero cat. The feline became an instant celebrity, “threw out” the first pitch at a local minor league game and was courted for appearances on a number of media outlets.

The dog, however, was voluntarily surrendered to the Bakersfield Animal Care Center and kept under quarantine for 10 days before it was put down.

Police Sgt. Joe Grubbs had previously told the Bakersfield Californian that the dog was “not adoptable, for obvious reasons.”