Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/missing-dog-virginia-fire/

A family of three made it out of a house fire in Virginia, and it’s all thanks to a lost dog named Cooper.

Cooper had initially shown up near Charity Golloway’s house earlier this year, and she attempted to locate his owner.

Sharing a photo of the pup on Facebook, Golloway wrote, “This dog has been up on our hill for the past few days … he is super nice and gentle… has a collar on but have no idea where he came from … if anybody knows anyone missing a dog or knows who he may belong to please message me !!! Thanks !!”

Her post received a few shares, but no one came forward to claim the dog. Golloway nicknamed the friendly pooch “Butter” and decided to offer him a place to live until his owner could be found.

As weeks turned it months, it seemed that “Butter” might not ever leave! With the weather getting colder, Golloway set up a heat lamp outside for the dog to keep warm at night.

It was a kind gesture, but one that would prove disastrous. As WJHL reported, the heat lamp caught on fire during the night and quickly spread to the house.

“Butter” immediately sprung into action, and ran to Golloway’s window. He barked loudly and persistently until Golloway woke up and noticed. She said to WJHL, “He knew something wasn’t right and that someone needed to know.”

His barking worked, and Golloway was able to wake up, realize what was happening, and get herself and her two kids outside to safety. Once outside, they called the Valley Volunteer Fire Department and attempted to stop the fire from spreading.

“The flames just got big really fast. It’s overwhelming actually how fast it happened,” Golloway shared with the news station.

After the fire department arrived, Butter was deemed a hero and a photo shared of him on social media quickly went viral. That’s when the missing dog’s owner spotted the photo and recognized him as Cooper! They were able to reach out to Golloway and reunite with their pup for the first time in months.

Naturally, Golloway is sad to see Cooper go, but she’s happy that he can finally be reunited with his family.

Watch the interview below:

[embedded content]
Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog