Rescued By Ruby: The Thrilling True Story That Inspired The Grant Gustin Movie

There is a sub-genre of films with four-legged protagonists that manage to melt the heart of even the gruffiest of spectators. In this vein belongs Rescued By Ruby, the “hairy” tear-movie by Katt Shea with Grant Gustin (Barry Allen, aka The Flash, in the Arrow spin-off series) and Bear, an adorable border collie. Produced by Fezziwig Studios and available in the Netflix catalog from March 17, Rescued By Ruby tells the adventure of young agent Dan O’Neil, a Rhode Island state trooper who has always dreamed of joining the K-9 , the canine unit Police “Search & Rescue”. The skills required are above all calm and precision, while Dan, now on the threshold of 30 years and almost out of time, is a restless and decidedly “messed up” person. Also, the department has no money for new dogs.

When Dan discovers that the four-legged K-9 agents don’t have to be German Shepherds, Pat (Camille Sullivan), the head of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, an NGO that takes care of animals rescued from cruelty. Ruby has just returned to the shelter, a border collie considered unmanageable because she is as intelligent and sensitive, curious and vital as she is undisciplined and frenetic, neurotic and destructive. Dan accepts her challenge: he decides to adopt Ruby, tries to train her as an auxiliary and make her the first stray to enter the dog unit.

The script for Rescued By Ruby is by Karen Janszen and is based on two short stories , Ruby: A Godwink Dogwink and Dogwink Ruby, written by Squire Rushnell and Louise DuArt and based on a real story. Behind the film there is therefore a true story, of those touching and moving ones that confirm what the ethologist Jane Goodall said about animals: “There is no clear line between the animal man and the rest of the animal kingdom. It is an indistinct line and it always will be. Fear in a monkey, a dog, a pig, is likely to be experienced in the same way as the human species”.

Rescued By Ruby: The True Story

Dan O’Neil and Ruby really exist: he is a corporal with the Rhode Island State Police , she is a cross between Australian Shepherd and Border Collie. Their story dates back to 2011. After five unsuccessful adoption attempts, Ruby ended up in an animal shelter as a puppy because of her persistent behavioral problems. Patricia Inman is actually the shelter volunteer and dog trainer who took care of her. In an interview with the Miami Herald she recounts that Ruby “was a complete stubborn woman”.

He jumped and bit the leash. He didn’t want to sit or crouch. She never stopped moving. But he was just a special dog who needed a special someone next to him.

That person was Dan. At the time, a police captain was looking for a rescue dog. Usually those from the K-9 are not like everyone else: they come from Europe and cost $7,500. When he goes to the shelter, he is struck by the determination and focus of Ruby, an unstoppable eight-month-old puppy. He sees her past in her: as a child Dan was also dyslexic and hyperactive. At Patricia’s suggestion, he takes her and transforms her (not without problems) into one of the family and above all into a four-legged heroine.

The Rescue of October 2017

Despite the initial impetuousness, Ruby turns out to be a collie so good and capable that she truly saves a human life. The collie works alongside Dan for seven years and successfully participates in ten rescues. The two partners even contributed to the conviction of two killers based on the evidence Ruby smelled. The episode recreated in the film dates back to October 2017, when Dan and Ruby join the search for a teenager who has been missing for 36 hours. The boy went out for a hike in the mountains and did not return home: he fell into a ravine.

Several attempts to contact him were unsuccessful. At that point Ruby succeeds where the rescue agents have failed: thanks to her incredible flair she finds her missing person, who is unconscious and in serious health conditions. That boy turns out to be Patricia’s son. It is Ruby’s repeated barking that attracts rescuers, grappling with radio and GPS that are unusable because they are out of range.

When Dan brings the boy home and finds himself in front of Pat, the two burst into tears, the agent reveals in an interview with People magazine. This exceptional recovery brought Ruby unexpected popularity: she earned the cover of the Rhode Island Monthly as “Rhode Islanders of the Year” and the American Humane Hero Dog awards her the “Search and Rescue Dog of the Year” award. .

In another “truer than true” twist, the film’s Ruby is played by Bear, a former stray who was saved from suppression by the production’s hired dog handlers. Rescued By Ruby takes some unavoidable creative liberties in recounting their vicissitudes, but Dan and Ruby’s is “a true underdog story,” as O’Neil calls it in the Herald interview. Two losers who took advantage of the opportunity that life has offered them because “we can achieve great things, no matter where we started in life”.

It was like a miracle. Ruby was given a chance and is now doing everything she can to pay it back. An abandoned dog has changed the lives of many people.

O’Neil has never been afraid of dogs considered “difficult”. He is sure that “if you show them love and compassion and give them some kind of stability, they will show their true nature.” The story of Dan and Ruby, before ending up in a book and becoming a movie for Netflix, was told by Squire Rushnell on the Today program.

Today O’Neil works on a permanent basis in K-9, coordinates a canine unit of 18 dogs and has always had Ruby by his side for 11 years. They also shared difficult days. In 2019 Ruby escaped to a state park and was found safe and sound after a 19-hour search. In 2020, however, a drunk driver crashed into Dan’s car while the two were on patrol. Ruby came out unscathed, O’Neil with five broken ribs. Dan’s hope is that seeing the Grant Gustin movie on Netflix, many people around the world will begin to consider adopting a stray in a kennel.