‘Hero cat’ saves owners’ lives – wakes them to warn of emergency while they sleep
In the quiet Canadian town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, one cat is being hailed a hero for preventing a house fire.
Early one Sunday morning, Scott White was woken up by his cat, Joey.
He was standing on Scott’s chest, pacing around the room and purring loudly for attention.
It was still dark outside, and usually their cat was much calmer. He had never disturbed their sleep for no reason, so Scott got the feeling something was wrong.
He got up to investigate, and followed Joey to the kitchen. There he found a smoke-filled room, billowing out from a slow cooker.
He and his partner had left it out hours earlier, and checked on it again before going to sleep.
“We went to bed around midnight and it was fine, and then it wasn’t fine when Joey found it.” – Scott White
White managed to get to the Crock Pot and before it went up in flames, which prevented the house from doing the same.
He couldn’t believe his cat could identify what was going on, and had the quick thinking to run and get help from them.
Scott White and his partner adopted Joey two and a half years ago from a shelter in Toronto (a few days’ drive, or three and a half hour flight away). He had come from another shelter in the neighbouring province of Quebec where cats are euthanized.
The couple had saved him from a dark fate, and now he had returned the favor.
And he isn’t the only pet in the house.
The couple had just brought home a 10-month-old puppy that they expected to make a good guard dog. But he slept through the entire thing! It’s a good thing Joey was there to alert them to the potential fire.
“I guess we found out the real hero is the cat.” – Scott White
White says they’ve learned from the experience, and will definitely pay more attention the next time he acts up. Their little hero is certainly getting some extra cat treats and affection for the next while!
According to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) cooking accidents are the leading cause of house fires in the USA.
In fact, they account for almost half of the incidents!
And even though slow cookers are designed to stew for long periods of time without supervision, it can go wrong. They have been known to cause house fires when left overnight.
That’s why it’s important to keep a fire extinguisher in the house, close by to any cooking equipment.
Old slow cookers are more likely to be faulty, so replacing them when they start to look like they’re in rough shape is advised.
And whenever possible, slow cook your meals during the day and when you’re at home.
We can’t all have hero cats that will alert us to danger in the home, and if Scott White’s family is any example, we can’t always rely on our guard dogs either!
Thankfully Joey was there to save them.
There’s no telling how long it would have taken for Scott to notice, or how much damage could have been done if he hadn’t gotten their attention.
They should make him an honorary firefighter!
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