Shelter dog breaks from Virginia adoption event, then alerts stranger to oncoming seizure

What started as a typical adoption event in Virginia changed when a foster dog named Sienna left the crowd and went directly to a man who was about to have a seizure.

Friends of Campbell County Animal Control, which hosted the event, shared the story on Facebook, and WRC reported that the dog's instincts may have helped avert a far more dangerous medical emergency.

What happened?

Among the dozens of animals available for adoption that day was Sienna, a 4-year-old labradoodle/pit bull mix. Barbe Shackelford, vice president and director of Friends of Campbell County Animal Control, said the dog had been found as a stray and was already known to volunteers as one of the shelter's sweetest pups.

Then, while interacting with visitors, Sienna suddenly pulled away and went straight to a man she did not know.

"She sat quietly at his feet, refused to budge, and softly placed her paw on his leg," the shelter wrote on Facebook. "It wasn't a trick. It wasn't prompted. It was pure intuition."

The man was Josh Davis, who has epilepsy and later told The Washington Post that he had forgotten to take his medication that morning. The shelter said his wife, Kristen, soon recognized that he was showing signs of an approaching myoclonic seizure.

"Sienna knew," the shelter wrote. "Before any human saw the signs, she knew."

Why does it matter?

Sienna had not been trained as a seizure-alert animal.

"If he hadn't calmed down and gone home to rest, even with the [vagus nerve stimulator], he was very likely to have a full-on convulsion seizure," Kristen Davis told the Post.

Davis recovered safely at home.

The encounter is also casting shelter pets in a positive light, including pit bull mixes that are often unfairly stereotyped or overlooked. Supporting local shelters through adoption, fostering, or volunteering can have effects that extend far beyond a single family — and this guide to taking local action is a good place to start.

What are people saying?

"We've always known Sienna is special," the shelter wrote. "But today, she reminded us that sometimes the ones we rescue are the ones who end up rescuing."

She was eventually adopted by a Roanoke-area family with two sons, one of whom has epilepsy.

Shackelford told NBC that Sienna has already settled into her new role beautifully, saying she has "chosen her special person and has not left his side."

She also called the dog "a fabulous ambassador for her breed and for shelter dogs everywhere."

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