Dog News

One-Eyed, Epileptic Dog Saves Owner from Fire

by Melanie

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Anna and Devo with Karen Jones of the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, where Devo has been treated for his condition.
Anna and Devo with Karen Jones of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, where Devo has been treated for his condition.

 

 

Having only one good eye and suffering from epilepsy doesn’t stop Devo from being a hero – the Siberian husky saved his disabled owner from a house fire in the middle of the night.

When Wales resident Anna Roodhouse heard her dog’s scratching and barking at 2 am, she was a little disturbed to have been awoken from her slumber. She thought he might have been having a seizure, so she pulled on a bathrobe and headed downstairs.

I was not very pleased with him for getting me up at that time in the morning. I told him to go back to sleep because it was still dark,” Anna said.

But she knew something was wrong when he refused to settle down.

It all happened so quickly. I thought I must have left a light on and then I realized there was actually a fire,” she said.

It began in the conservatory in the back of her home. Flames quickly spread and consumed the house.

My daughter Nadia came round screaming that the house was on fire,” Anna explained. “Within minutes, the whole house was engulfed. If I had been asleep in bed, I would have died in the fire.”

Sadly, the entire house, including all of Anna’s possessions, were claimed by the fire.

I am staying with my daughter across the road and I can see the burnt-out shell of my home from the window. I lived there for 35 years – my children were born there and my husband died there,” she said. “I have lost all my belongings but it makes you realize what really matters. I am so lucky that we both walked out of that house without a scratch.”

She is now trying to find a new home, but is having trouble because many landlords do not allow dogs, and there is no way she will part with her hero. She has had the nine-year-old dog since he was three, and the two share a very special bond. She takes good care of him, especially when he has a seizure.

Sometimes I can tell when he is going to have a fit. He gets disorientated and his legs get a bit wobbly. He just wants to climb on to my lap and be near me. When I see those signs, I will sit up with him all night.

Anna helps fundraise for the People’s Dispensary for sick animals, who have helped Devo with his disorder.

I can’t praise them highly enough. They have kept him alive and now he has saved me. It’s amazing.”