A Philadelphia pooch is enjoying his newfound celebrity after the clever dog alerted his owner to a potentially fatal gas leak in front of her home.
Kobe the four-year-old husky achieved viral fame after his owner, Chanell Bell, posted a video to social media detailing the dog’s inadvertent heroic effort to save their neighbourhood from what could have been an explosion.
Bell said Kobe exhibited his valiant behaviour in the days before Christmas.
“He kept digging holes in the yard, and I didn’t think anything of it,” Bell described in a video voiceover.
She posted footage captured on her doorbell camera of Kobe digging just in front of the home’s fence.
Though many dog owners aren’t thrilled when their pets dig holes on their property, Bell decided to follow Kobe’s nose and investigate his work. After all, Bell said the digging behaviour was not common for her dog.
She told the news station SWNS her “intuition” led her to believe Kobe might be attempting to alert her of a gas leak.
Bell said that weeks earlier in December she’d had a gas leak in her home after experiencing issues with her heater. When she used her gas level reader inside her home on Dec. 21, she did not detect anything. But when she followed Kobe to the hole he’d dug in the yard, the meter lit up and alerted her to the presence of gas.
Bell contacted her local authorities to report the leak. She said a crew worked “non-stop” for three days to repair the issue and replace the neighbourhood’s aged pipes. Bell said workers told her that something as simple as turning on a light switch could have ignited the flammable gas fumes and blown up her entire house.
“We were told it could’ve caused serious health effects like respiratory issues, brain damage, and even death,” Bell told SWNS. “It feels amazing to know Kobe saved our block; I am very thankful to have him.”
Now, neighbours and Kobe’s admirers online are praising the dog and calling him a hero. One social media user who replied to Bell’s video of Kobe suggested that the neighbourhood ought to buy the husky a celebratory tomahawk steak.
Bell even self-published a children’s picture book about Kobe, called The Dog That Saved The Block Before Christmas.
What to do if you suspect a gas leak
If you smell natural gas — which usually includes mercaptan, the gas that produces a putrid, rotten egg smell — in or around your home, it is important to act quickly and stay calm. Contact your local officials and/or energy provider immediately and avoid smoking and using electronics, cellphones and other appliances near the gas leak.
Gas leaks can also be identified by the presence of damaged natural gas connections or dead vegetation, as well as a potential whistling or hissing noise.
Never assume that someone else has already reported a gas leak.