Most everyone has seen the movie or at least heard the phrase “all dogs go to heaven.”

If this true, then it would not be so unreasonable to expect pets have angels too.

Regardless if you believe this or not, you surely know the religious and philosophical basis of angels and the role they play in our lives as well as our pets’ lives.

We don’t always know who our angels are and rarely do we get a chance to see one of our “guiding lights” or life savers.

I suspect it is even more unlikely to have the unique opportunity to personally experience one of our pet’s angels leading them back from the bright light.

I’m not naive enough to think everyone who helps a helpless and defenseless little creature is an angel.

However, I have experienced plenty of unselfish acts of kindness with heroic standards of bravery toward helping domesticated animals.

I’ve witnessed individuals risking personal injury with no regards for their safety just to lend a hand to an injured seemingly stray dog or cat.

Whenever a series of events unfolds before you with symbolism and irony attached to the story, it seems nearly impossible to assume the situation is a random set of events.

With each symbolic or ironic gesture that becomes realized, the more we can’t deny the force of a higher power.

Maybe the brave, unselfish and compassionate individuals helping animals in need are just unrecognized heroes.

Imagine for just a moment, though, those individuals are actually pet angels. It certainly places a much greater spiritual emphasis on the value of animal life, at least in the minds of those willing to throw caution aside to help the animals that can’t help themselves.

Several years ago, I was fortunate to witness the kind of exemplary kindness only possible from an angel, or possibly an extraordinary mortal hero.

To set the stage on this particular day, it was near the end of the day somewhere between 4 to 5 p.m.

My clinic was bustling with appointments, grooming and surgery patients being picked up, and the phone ringing off the hook.

One of our front office staff members was frantic when she stopped me in the hallway to explain she had just received several calls about a stray dog that had just been hit by a car. The problem was she could not ascertain the complete situation because all of the callers were somewhat panicking.

After a few minutes, she came to me even more frantic as she could hardly get the words out between her rapid hyperventilating breaths.

She took a deep breath and said “Dr. Castle, now the mayor is on the phone about the injured stray dog!”

I answered the phone and the mayor calmly and clearly articulated the situation at hand which involved a stray dog getting hit by a car.

The dog was alive but bleeding heavily and very agitated whenever anyone tried to pick her up.

The police and the county animal control officer were dispatched. It appeared time was of the essence since the dog was losing blood fast. I began to explain to the mayor how to subdue the frightened dog just when he informed me someone was able to capture her and they would arrive at our office soon.

The next thing I know, a young man came into the clinic shirtless and covered in blood carrying a limp tan short-haired mixed-breed dog.

On examination, the stray dog was in shock, covered in blood and had multiple bleeding wounds from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail.

Her worst wound appeared to be on the inside of one of her back legs. I could not assess the extent of the wound because there was a rag tied tightly around the wound.

I told the young man what a fine job he had done wrapping the wound with enough pressure to stop the bleeding. That is when I found out the young man had used his first aid training obtained during his eight years in the Army.

It turns out he was a member of a Combat Life Saving unit during his three years of service in Iraq. I’m talking about the first responders to injured soldiers in the Army risking their life for our freedom and basic wonderful way of life we are accustomed to.

I began to feel emotional, as my tear production started to slightly blur my vision.

Just then, I began to remove the rag from the dog’s wound when the young man asked if I could save the rag for him.

Believe or not, he explained that the cloth was not a rag. Instead, it was his own T-shirt he had taken off to bandage the dog’s leg. Symbolically, his T-shirt was from an event honoring service dogs that had fallen during action.

At that moment, I knew this stray dog was given a fighting chance because of an angel.

Regardless if that young man was her angel or just another brave animal loving hero, I can’t help but to believe pet’s have angels too.

The injured stray dog spent several months in our clinic after recovering from her injuries. She underwent surgery and countless bandage changes until all her wounds healed.

Eventually, she was adopted by one of our clients whose dog had just passed away.

To this day, the stray dog, now known as Alice, continues to live a long, healthy and happy life.

Dr. Jeff Castle is a veterinarian at Clark County Veterinary Clinic.