Midwest

Dog saves Iowa family from carbon monoxide poisoning

“Mild-mannered” pooch alerted sleeping owners to potentially deadly gas leak at Ankeny home.

A special dog is set to take pride of place among an Iowa family this Christmas after saving her owners from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Roxy, a usually “mild-mannered” husky/coonhound mix, came to the rescue on Monday night as three generations of the Harbert family slept, unaware that the deadly gas was leaking inside their Ankeny home.

 “She just was jumping off my bed, jumping back up on the bed. When I started to come to, I was hearing an alarm, and it wasn’t the smoke alarm,” Brad Habert, 37, told WHO-DT.

“I jumped out of bed. Right when I did, Roxy came out to the hallway … I grabbed the [carbon monoxide] detector and found out that if it chirps four times … there’s active carbon monoxide in the house.”

Harbert ushered his son and father to safety outside, together with their heroic hound, before calling 911. Officials later determined that the potentially fatal odorless gas was leaking from Harbert’s electric and gas fireplace.

Harbert was overwhelmed by emotion while describing Roxy’s life-saving response, telling the local station: “She’s pretty special to us.”

“I could tell something was wrong that night that she woke me up and just her actions, she was kind of shivering and just really concerned that we would get outside,” he said.

“[I’m] very, very happy to have a dog and very happy to have her,” Harbert added.

More than 400 Americans die from carbon monoxide poisoning each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest Stories

Judge Busted! Arrest Sparks Firestorm Over Immigration, Judicial Independence and Separation of Powers

A Wisconsin judge is at the center of a growing national debate after being arrested by the FBI for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade ICE agents.

10 months ago

Texas Mortuary Worker Busted for Corpse Experiments

Whistleblower says a female co-worker faked documents, experimented on dismembered limbs, and cremated the remains at a North Austin mortuary.

11 months ago

School Official Busted for Defecating in Beer Cave

Pennsylvania nutrition director finds herself in deep trouble after turning a convenience store cooler into an unlicensed restroom.

11 months ago

Manhattan Subway Horror as Corpse Abused on R Train

Cops are hunting a Bronx man accused of one of the most disturbing subway crimes in recent memory – and that’s saying something.

11 months ago

Sex scandal explodes in Cambridge: Docs, dons & pols named in luxury brothel ring

It’s the high-class hooker scandal shaking Boston’s elite—34 well-heeled men, including doctors, executives, and a city councilor, unmasked as alleged johns in a secret luxury sex ring stretching from Cambridge to D.C.

11 months ago

Green Beret’s Wife Charged After His Dismembered Body Turns Up in Pond

When Clint Bonnell told his wife he was leaving her for another woman, prosecutors say she had a deadly – and messy – response.

11 months ago

This website uses cookies.