Petel, the dog who caused terrorists to flee from the Ben-Zvi family home in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, has died after spending her final days with her family.
Petel was not evacuated from the house after the terror attack because the IDF troops who rescued the family said she was traumatized and needed to stay put. A few days later, she was injured by shrapnel while soldiers were clearing the house.
"Petel went through the 2014 war with us," said Ela Ben-Zvi, 38, who is married to Eyal and mother to three children. "That event scarred her emotionally. She was very afraid of explosions and loud noises. Whenever there was a rocket siren she would immediately go to the bomb shelter. On October 7, we all ran to the shelter. Because she was so traumatized, she lay on the floor and panted heavily the entire time. She refused to eat or drink. She was in such a state that she couldn’t communicate and stayed silent the whole time."
Ben-Zvi recounted that around noon, terrorists entered their home. "I had fortified the entire house except for the kitchen window," she recalled. "They broke the kitchen window and got in. We heard them enter the kitchen. I had built fortifications on the door, and they started dismantling them. When Petel heard the noise, she jumped at the bomb shelter door and barked hysterically. I encouraged her. Having worked at a border crossing, I knew they didn’t like dogs. Petel barked like crazy."
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Petel was 11 and a half years old when she passed away
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
Fortunately, her incessant barking caused the terrorists to leave the house. "At one point, my husband realized the baby monitor was on. We were in the shelter on one side of the house, and the monitor speaker was on the other side," Ben-Zvi said. "The terrorists heard the dog in stereo. I can only assume that the scene became too complicated for them, and they decided to leave. Later, another group arrived, but they made no noise and just walked on the glass."
Israeli soldiers later arrived to rescue the Ben-Zvi family. Ela's mother-in-law, Tamar Ben-Zvi, was in the attic when the terrorists took over the house. The terrorists who entered Ela's house stayed relatively quiet in the living room and were apprehended by the soldiers. "When we opened the bomb shelter door, Petel licked the soldiers and wagged her tail. She ran all over the house," Ben-Zvi recalled. "But we couldn’t take her out of the house because there were too many explosions. She was also too large to carry."
Ben-Zvi said the soldiers decided Petel had to stay in the house because she was traumatized and afraid to leave. "We put her in the bedroom with food and water," she said. "We thought it would be over soon, and we would come back for her. Who could have imagined this was the situation? On Tuesday, we were informed she was injured."
According to information Ela gathered, IDF soldiers clearing the house in Be'eri thought there was a terrorist inside. They fired, and Petel was hit by shrapnel. "The soldiers quickly realized what happened and treated her," Ben-Zvi said. "There were remnants of a tourniquet and bandages in the house. They took her to the guard post, and someone from the kibbutz transported her to the vet."
Petel was taken to the clinic of Dr. Ido Kahn in Rehovot, where she underwent surgery to remove the shrapnel and had her leg cast. The Ben-Zvi family evacuated to a hotel at the Dead Sea, and could not care for her during her recovery, so Petel was sent to a foster home with a relative of one of her rescuers.
In March, the Ben-Zvi family moved to Givat Ela. "As soon as we could, we brought her to us," Ela said. "The kids—Reut, 8, Yoav, 5, and Ido, 3 —grew up with her. She was with us and received lots of love, hugs, and caresses. But she was an older dog, 11 years old, and had been through a lot. She spent a lot of energy on her recovery. Some people told us she held on a bit longer to be with us, and then she let go."