In Richmond, California, at the end of June 2010, Mayda Estrella was outside barbequing, and had left the door open so as to keep an eye on her four year old boy and her newborn son. Unexpectedly, two pitbulls rushed into the house after the children.

Luckily for the boys, the family's dog, Manchas the chihuahua, leapt between the boys and the pitbulls to protect the children. The pitbulls looked at the boys, their initial target, then decided to settle for Manchas. One of the big dogs snatched the little defender up in its jaws, and sped out of the house. Animal control officers afterward found the heroic chihuahua nearby, killed.

Police followed the pitbulls, Jade and Beast, back to their own home. They'd escaped from a yard by chewing their way through a wooden fence. The owner at first refused to turn over the dogs, but had no choice, and in the long run said he would not appeal Costa County Animal Control's recommendation that the pitbulls be euthanized in accordance with the dangerous animal ordinance.

There is a special place in Heaven for dogs and soldiers who die for the people they love.