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A dog is found dead days after saving its family from a house fire in Morrison, Colorado on Wednesday, August 16.
The dog, named Cuddles, alerted her whole family, who were all sleeping, to an early morning fire. The hero dog woke the family up and alerted them to the fire, KDVR reports.
The family was able to get out safely, but Cuddles went missing. Crews searched the destroyed home multiple times, but did not find the dog.
West Metro Fire Rescue even posted photos of the Chihuahua in hopes of someone recognizing and finding her.
“These pictures of Cuddles are from the family. They say she is chipped, and if found, local animal shelters should be able to verify her identity,” the agency wrote.
Neighbors even put out a dog bed and food nearby thinking that Cuddles might have run away during the house fire.
However, three days after the accident, a FOX31 reporter revealed that family and friends say that Cuddles was found deceased inside the house.
9News reports that she was found underneath a bed. And that she likely died of smoke inhalation.
The family credited the deceased family dog as the hero who saved their life. And in an interview with 9News, Cuddles’ 13-year-old owner, Jaxson Coley, said he’s still in shock.
“She was very playful and loving she just wanted to cuddle everybody,” Coley said.
Coley’s grandparents, Suzanne Elkins and her husband, Victor, recounted the incident to 9News. Elkins said, “Cuddles hopped on Victor’s chest and barked in his face to wake him up to let us know that there was a danger.”
Elkins said that what happened is hard for everyone in the family. “Victor went back in and searched for her with all the smoke and flames and that’s how he burned his foot by running out and we did not know what happened to Cuddles then,” she explained.
“Really without her doing that who knows what would have happened to us,” Elkins added. “Love on your dogs. They’re not given enough credit I think for how powerful they can be.”
Currently, family and friends have created a GoFundMe for the family to help them get through this tragedy.
Furthermore, the West Metro Fire reveals that the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
