First recipient of the RSPCA Purple Cross

The first recipient of the Purple Cross, an award for animal valour issued by the Australian chapter of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), was silky terrier Fizo on 25 September 1996. Fizo received the accolade after jumping off a balcony to protect several children from a venomous snake.

RSPCA Australia established the Purple Cross Award in 1993 as a means to recognize animals that had endangered their lives to save/protect those of humans.

Fizo leapt off a balcony to defend his nine-year-old owner and two of his friends from a brown snake. He sustained several bites but did not relinquish the snake until it was dead. He was then taken to a nearby veterinary clinic to receive antivenom.

As of 2021, only 10 Purple Crosses have been awarded, all of which have been dog, except one that was given posthumously to a donkey named Murphy (representing all pack donkeys that served with ANZAC forces in World War I).