A shelter dog is being praised for saving a Virginia family’s life by alerting them to a raging inferno on their houseboat as they slept.
Sheila Janes, husband Christopher Cushna and their three children were fostering the Great Pyrenees, ‘Moose’, for the weekend when a fire broke out on an adjoining boat at the Tidewater Yacht Marina in Portsmouth on Saturday night.
The flames quickly spread to their houseboat, ultimately destroying it – but Moose helped them escape the blaze uninjured.
‘If Moose was not there, at the very least, it would have been an emergency evacuation,’ Christopher told WTKR, hinting that the stray dog may have helped save their lives.
Moose was able to wake the dad-of-three and his daughter Anya, prompting them to see smoke rising from the boat next door.
A shelter dog has saved a family’s life by alerting them to blaze on their houseboat
Moose is being credited with saving the family after waking up Christopher and his daughter
The family-of-five’s home was destroyed after a fire broke out on a boat on the adjoining slip
The family had taken the pooch out as part of the ‘Paws Around Portsmouth’ program
‘I could have seen us having to dive into the waters. It would have surprised us. What Moose was able to do was eliminate the surprise.’
The pair moved quickly to wake up the others and everyone was able to safely get onto shore without any injuries.
‘We had to actually go past the boat that was burning and it was a really big inferno, it was amazing. It was hot. It was very hot,’ he said.
Multiple boats were destroyed in the blaze, including Sheila and Christopher’s home. A fundraising page has been set up to help them get back on their feet.
As they look ahead to rebuilding, the couple, who run Olde Town Arts and Music in Portsmouth, say they’re grateful Moose was in their care.
The family had taken the pooch out as part of the ‘Paws Around Portsmouth’ program which allows keen animal lovers to “check out” a rescue dog for a few hours or days.
Everyone was able to safely get onto shore without any injuries
The pooch is now in his forever home after being looked after by Christopher and Sheila
Smoke was seen billowing from the marina early morning on Sunday
When they took Moose around the town, they found someone who was keen to care for Moose – but they weren’t able to take him until the following day.
The family had taken back Moose for just one extra night when the fire broke out.
‘What I like to think about is that we saved Moose from the situation that Moose was in and Moose definitely saved us on the boat,’ Christopher said.
On Sunday, just a few hours after the fire, Moose went to his forever home – but he still has a brother that is need of a new owner through the Portsmouth Humane Society.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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