Nose for danger: Pit bull alerts police to gas leak

A pet owner says her dog ran out the door of her home and broke through a fence to alert the neighborhood of a possible danger.

News 12 Staff

Feb 7, 2019, 10:58 PM

Updated 1,912 days ago

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A pet owner says her dog ran out the door of her home and broke through a fence to alert the neighborhood of a possible danger.
Serena Costello says her pit bull Sadie is usually obedient when she's left home alone.

That changed Wednesday afternoon when Costello got a call from Tuckahoe police.

"We were dispatched to Fairview Avenue on a report of a loose pit bull running around," says Tuckahoe Police Lt. Lawrence Rotta. 
Serena Costello says she was initially aggravated because she thought Sadie was being a bad girl.
The 11-year-old dog led officers back to her home where they made a scary discovery.

"Officers noticed a sliding glass door open with an odor of natural gas emanating from the house," says Rotta. "Natural gas inside the house can accumulate to the point where God forbid someone would come home and turn on a light switch there could be a potential explosion."

Sadie, it seems, attempted to escape out of the front door before she went for the back door.

The leak is now patched, and Costello says she believes Sadie knew something was wrong and potentially saved her life.


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