Dog News

Eight-Pound Chihuahua Survives House Explosion

by Katherine

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A Thornton, Colo., home exploded on June 19, 2014, claiming the lives of a man and two dogs. However, Snoopy, an eight-pound Chihuahua survived the ordeal and is recovering at a local animal clinic.

When the explosion took place, neighbors Robert Russell and his son Noah were at their home, two houses away, but the deafening sound and the strong vibration startled them, and they rushed over to see what had happened.

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Snoopy survived the house explosion.

As soon as they realized their neighbor’s house had been leveled and caught fire, the two brave men ran towards the point of disaster instead of away from it. Thanks to their heroic actions Snoopy was pulled from the rubble and saved.

“You never expect to hear something that loud,” Robert Russell told KDVR. “I jumped on top of the trailer and then on to the rubble and started calling for people, just to see if they were OK.”

No human responded to Russell’s calls, but a dog barked and tried to make its way out of the flames.

“I saw the flames and I could hear yelping and barking,” said Noah. “I had a fire extinguisher so I started moving toward the flames just trying to clear a path for myself to get through. At that point the dog walked out and kind of met me half way. [There] was like almost nothing left of [her] hair. [She had] blood everywhere [and] burn marks.”

The tiny dog was rushed over Eastlake Veterinary Clinic and veterinarians worked to save her. She has extensive injuries but is expected to make a full recovery.

Even though the homeowners are saddened by the total property loss, and the loss of their family members – including Snoppy’s canine siblings – they are grateful the Russells were brave and risked their own safety to rescue Snoopy.