From pound to hero: Hazel the dog saves owner

A nine-month-old rescue dog named Hazel saved her owner’s life last Friday by biting him awake as their Whakatāne house caught fire. The man escaped with only a case of smoke inhalation, though the home was lost to ashes.

Locals told Stuff that the blaze grew beyond anyone’s ability to control faster than any had imagined. Firefighters had been called early on, but for Hazel it wasn’t soon enough.“His dog actually bit him and woke him up. If his dog wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be here,” Christina Eichler, the home’s property manager, told Stuff.

Hazel had been surrendered by two previous owners and was living at JDC Rescue before being adopted. She wasn’t willing to let it be 3 from 3. Dora Motateanu from JDC Rescue said the tenant’s decision to adopt Hazel had definitely saved her life, and that now she had returned the favor.