Puppy named 'Monster' credited with saving owner's Alabama home



ATHENS, Ala. – An Alabama man is crediting his puppy with saving his house and possibly his life Sunday after his front yard went up in flames.

Cameron McKee has only had his Lab mix Monster for a little over a month, but he told WHNT if it wasn't for the pup, the whole house would have burned down.

On Sunday afternoon, McKee was sleeping with his girlfriend when his yard caught fire. "Two of the dogs were on the bed with us sleeping," McKee explained. "I think Monster was out in the living room and all of sudden, he comes running in and starts making noise and wakes my girlfriend up."

McKee said his girlfriend was the first to realize what was happening.

"She opened the front door and looks out and sees the whole front yard was in flames," he said.

McKee grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. He said he put out most of the fire, but the fire department came to put out the hot spots.

The blaze was within inches of taking over the entire house, leaving his lawn charred all the way up to the edge of the structure.

"This is the rescuer here," McKee told WHNT, referring to Monster. "The hero!"

McKee said if it wasn't for Monster the damage would have been a lot worse. "If it wasn't for him I mean honestly, the shed would have caught fire. The fire spread all the way against the house. It was a matter of a couple more minutes and we could have lost everything," McKee said.