Dogsey

A family from Tosside, North Yorkshire have called their dog their "little hero”after she alerted them to a fire in a barn. The barn, which is just metres from their house, contains a diesel tank and the family believe that the fire could easily have spread to their home, had Cassie, their four-year-old lurcher, not raised the alarm.

The family, of Pendle View Farm, were asleep when a fire broke out in the barn at 5 am. Cassie, who usually sleeps outside, managed to get into the house through the back door after it had been accidentally left unlocked. She was heard by a member of the family and while he began waking the other family members, Cassie went to rouse her owner, George Owen. The family managed to extinguish the fire with buckets of water and a hose before the fire crews arrived at the remote farm twenty minutes later.

The fire, believed to have been caused by a short circuit in the wiring, caused approximately £9000 worth of damage. A member of the family, Helen Owen, described the devotion Cassie shows her owner, adding, “if it hadn’t been for Cassie I dread to think what would have happened.”