The great writer of angelic encounters, Joan Wester Anderson, provides us with a remarkable story showing how God can move even through animals.

It has to do with a couple in Bellport, New York, and their golden retriever, Bullet.

When Bullet got old and infirm -- heart problems and a tumor -- the vet advised Pam Sica and husband Troy to put the pet "down."

Despite their own misgivings, and the criticism of others (who "thought they were insane," writes Anderson, in Angelic Tails), the Sicas took out a $5,000 loan to cover an operation and other vet expenses.

To everyone's surprise, the dog survived -- and a year later, the Sicas had a baby they named Troy Joseph.

The dog became the infant's "guardian angel" -- watching over the child day and night.

Suddenly, one night, Pam heard Bullet bark and a few seconds later the dog came skidding up the hallway to the kitchen. It was rare for the dog to bark. Pam wondered if it wanted to go outside.

"But no," writes Joan. "Bullet ran back down the hallway to the bedroom, then turned toward Pam.

"He looked up at her, and barked again, jumping off the floor, as if to say 'C'mon!' Bullet was too old to be jumping. What was going on?"

As it turned out, when Pam dashed to the infant's room, the baby was blue and completely limp. SIDS? Sleep apnea? Was he choking?

Troy raced out of the shower and immediately began performing CPR. They frantically called 911 and paramedics came running up the stairs with the police.

At Brookhaven Hospital -- where the baby was stabilized -- one attending doctor told the couple they "were lucky to find him when you did. It takes only a few minutes for brain damage to set in with a very young infant." The Sicas were stunned -- beginning to realize that Bullet, this dog they nearly "put down," had saved their child's life.

The baby eventually recovered and came home two weeks later. He was diagnosed as having a gastrointestinal condition and also a hole in his heart, which eventually closed.

What can explain Bullet's awareness?

We have heard other accounts like this.

In Niagara Falls, New York, a priest once told us that his large dog dragged him out of bed one night and it was discovered that there was a serious gas leak in the house -- a leak that could easily have killed the priest, had he remained asleep.

In this case, Bullet lived just one more year, before dying peacefully in Pam's arms.

When the dog died, a huge yellow butterfly appeared over the Sicas' patio, after a sudden and brief downpour.

Every now and then, the Sicas spot large butterflies. Their son calls yellow butterflies "Bullet."

They seem to follow the Sicas wherever they go.

[Joan's angel book, In the Arms of Angels]

[Note also: Michael Brown afterlife retreats: Florida and Texas]

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