Dog saves disabled owner from fire
Washington
October 18, 2006

A dog rescued a disabled woman from her burning home in the US state of Wisconsin, but its devotion cost it its life when it returned to save the family cat.

Jesse, a Labrador retriever and German shepherd mix, dragged its owner Jamie Hanson, 49, to safety after a fire broke out in her home yesterday in the town of Rhine.

Before pulling Hanson to safety, Jesse brought her the prosthetic leg she has worn since an automobile accident three years ago and a telephone to call the fire department, the Sheboygan Press reported.

When the dog pulled its owner to the doorway, Hanson said she heard the cat cry and the dog ran upstairs to get the cat.

"I screamed and I screamed for her, but then I just heard her whine and then I didn't hear anything more," Hanson said at a press conference.

Hanson had trained Jesse to assist her after she lost her leg in an accident. Both Jesse and the cat it tried to save died in the blaze.

"I never treated her like a dog," Hanson said.

"She was always like a child to me. She understood every word I ever said to her."

Another cat started the fire when it knocked over a candle, fire authorities said.

Hanson received moderate burns in the fire, which destroyed her 100-year-old home.

DPA

Source: HERE