Hero dog breaks out of New York home, saves family from gas leak

TUCKAHOE, Westchester County -- A dog is being hailed as a hero after she saved the lives of her family.

The pit bull, named Sadie, was found roaming a yard in New York on Wednesday afternoon, barking incessantly.

Police received a call at 3:45 p.m. about a loose, barking dog and responded to the home.

"The dog then ran and took the officers through several streets, and then led them back to the dog's residence into the backyard," police Lieutenant Lawrence Rotta said.

Arriving officers noticed the home's sliding glass door was open, and the fence was broken.

As police walked the perimeter of the house, they discovered a gas odor coming from an open basement window.

Eastchester Fire Department and Con Edison responded to the scene and confirmed there was a gas leak coming from the basement.

"The dog saved the house from a potential gas explosion and gas leak," Rotta said.

Further inspection revealed claw marks and blood on the back of the door, leading the family to believe Sadie sensed there was danger and jumped into action.

"She went from being in time out to being my girl," owner Serena Costello said. "It looks like she was trying to get out this window...She was determined to get out."

Costello credits Sadie for saving her life and the life of her 4-year-old daughter.

Somehow, Sadie chewed and dug out a wooden blocker keeping the sliding door shut and managed to run out into the backyard. Costello says in 11 years, Sadie has never once run out of the house.

"This is my contraption I built so she never got out, which always worked since I been here," Costello said. "But she nestled through here and escaped through the fence."

Costello was at work at the time, and a friend called her to let her know that police, firefighters and utility workers were at her home. If not for Sadie, she fears she and her daughter could have come home to a catastrophe in the making.

"She is a hero," she said. "She is our hero. It's just so out of character for her to do. She saved our lives. Yeah. Emotional."

But before the story ends, there was one other small police matter to resolve.

"They had to write me a summons, which they didn't want to, but I guess it's the law for having an unleashed dog in the area," Costello said. "But one of the police officers, I guess after ConEd said that (it) was a gas leak, took the summons and ripped it up."