Dog saved him from bomb; now he saves Lebanon’s abandoned animals

Houssein Hamze was sleeping in his home one night when he woke up to the sound of a dog barking. Alarmed, he got up to check on the dog, his first rescue pet and moments later, a bomb dropped next to his home with a piece of shrapnel landing just where he had been sleeping moments earlier. The attack was a part of Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah and Hamze had just escaped death by mere seconds. "I swear to god, he really saved me from death. Animals always possess a sixth sense we don't have," he said to The Guardian.Twenty years and two wars later, the 57-year-old is still repaying his debt to the dog who saved his life. Soon after the near-death experience, Hamze founded the Mashala shelter in the village of Zefta, south Lebanon in order to take care of the animals in the area.