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I submitted this last week or so to the news section but haven't seen it being put up yet so I am putting this here, happened 10 minutes from the house.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012
By HOLLY KOZELSKY - Bulletin Staff Writer
Mandell Motley will forever be grateful to Pearl, his sister’s white pit bull dog.
The dog pushed Motley aside to save him from being bitten by a copperhead snake, taking the bites herself instead. Now the pit bull is struggling for her life, but Motley said Tuesday she had “that fight in her eye.” Pearl belongs to Karlette Motley. When Karlette moved to South Carolina, her new living arrangements did not allow for a dog, so she left Pearl with their father, Carl T. Motley Sr. of Carver. Their father travels often for his work with the Merchant Marines, and when he’s gone, Mandell Motley takes care of Pearl. Mandell Motley is the pastor of Grace Chapel Ministries in Bassett. In the beginning, it was a testy relationship, Mandell Motley said. “That dog couldn’t stand me,” he said. “... It looked like she didn’t know which side of me to bite first (when he would bring her food).” However, a fondness developed after months feeding her and taking care of her, he added. On Friday evening, it was getting dark when he went to her pen, and Motley did not have a flashlight with him so he could not see very well. Pearl barked happily upon his arrival. Then, “all of a sudden, her bark changed, and it was a strange bark,” he said. “I stepped on something, like a rotten tree branch or an old banana,” he said of what happened next. “It just had that softness. Lord, I looked down, and it was a snake.” The snake was poised to bite, and Pearl lunged forward and “knocked me out of the way,” Motley said. Pearl attacked the snake, which bit her on the nose and the thigh. When the snake stopped moving, Pearl “leans up against me and just slides down to the ground,” he said. Motley picked up the snake with a stick and tossed it onto the driveway, where he killed it. He took pictures of it. Then he rushed Pearl to an emergency veterinary clinic in Greensboro, N.C., since Pearl’s regular veterinary office was closed. Motley showed the pictures to the medical staff, who immediately identified the snake as a copperhead. Knowing that helped them give appropriate treatment, Motley said. “They went to work on her immediately,” he said. “It looked helpless, like I’d have to put her down.” Her whole leg was “turning purple, a blue-red color,” and the dog was “just barely getting around,” he said. The medical team said Pearl should remain at the clinic for 48 hours, but that would have cost $1,800, which Motley was not prepared to pay at the time. He said he had to sign a release to take her home earlier than recommended. Pearl and Motley returned home at about 5 or 6 a.m. Saturday, he said. Pearl “hobbled on over” to the dead snake on the driveway and looked at it with an attitude of accusation, he said. She has been in the house since then, with regular treatments of antibiotics and pain killers, he said. The family is doing what it can to save her. Motley had called his sister after the dog was bitten, but she was at work and couldn’t take his call, so he texted the news to her. When she got off work, she called him. “She was crying and carrying on,” he said. It took a few days to reach their father, who was at sea. “He was really sad,” Motley said. Their father told him to do whatever it took, at whatever cost, to help Pearl. “He was really desperate to save that dog,” he added. Motley’s father told him the family must save Pearl since she saved his life, Motley said. Motley has been telling his story to many people and, he said, Pearl has been the recipient of many prayers and good wishes. This incident gives a fresh perspective on a breed of dog that carries a stigma, Motley said. He said that most people don’t care for pit bulls. “She’s really a blessing,” he added. “She really is.”
Copperhead snake thwarted by pit bull dog - Martinsville Bulletin