The heroic dog who saved her family’s life when Hamas terrorists attempted to raid their home during the murderous Oct. 7 attacks has died, her family told The Post.
As terrorists smashed through a kitchen window to the Ben-Zvi family’s home in Kibbutz Be’eri, in southern Israel, 11-year-old Petel, a Labrador-mix, began madly barking from the safe room.
“She’s jumping on the door, barking like crazy,” Ela Ben-Zvi, 38, recalled.
The dog’s bellowing, she added, was picked up by a baby monitor in the safe room linked to house’s stereo, which began blasting out the dog’s snarls — sending the terrorists running.
“The same group of terrorists went inside two of our neighbors’ houses and killed them,” she added. “It’s safe to assume her presence . . . saved our lives.”
When Israeli troops reached the Ben-Zvi’s home later in the day to rescue the couple and their children, the dog refused to leave the house.
“We couldn’t carry her because I had one kid on my back and was dragging another, my husband was holding the youngest and the backpack with one set of clothes each,” she said, adding the soldiers’ couldn’t carry the pooch and protect the family at the same.
Before fleeing on foot under a volley of bullets, the couple locked Petel in their room with food and water, with plans to return in a couple of days.
The following Tuesday, however, the Ben-Zvis learned that Petel was found wounded at the kibbutz’s front gate.
Courtesy of the Ben-Zvi family
Soldiers bandaged the dog and brought her to a veterinarian clinic in Rehovot, where she underwent surgeries to fix a broken leg and remove shrapnel lodged in her body.
The Ben-Zvis initially evacuated to a hotel near Dead Sea, in northern Israel.
In March, they moved to a home with a yard, where they reunited with their furry champion, keeping her by their side until her sudden but peaceful death last week.
“If it wasn’t for Oct. 7, Petel would still be with us,” Ben-Zvi said.
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