Resident describes moment twister hit East Tamaki, Flat Bush home. Video / Michael Craig
Man’s best friend has saved an Auckland retiree after his pooch prevented him from walking through a tornado that blew through eastern parts of Auckland.
Ron Stewart was walking his two dogs, including 12-year-old poodle Shiloh, on Sunday about 8.30pm.
“There was no rain and absolutely no wind,” Stewart said of the start of the routine stroll on Carragh Place in East Tamaki.
“All was normal until we got to Armoy Drive when my white poodle, Shiloh, refused to go any further and kept looking back towards our house.”
It was the first time Shiloh had ever suddenly stopped walking in the middle of a trip and only 10 minutes into the walk.
Shiloh refused to budge and eventually forced Stewart to return home.
“I said ‘all right, do you want to go home?’ and as soon as I said home, she trotted off towards the house.
“Just as I got to my front door, down came the rain, very heavy and the wind was fairly strong,” Stewart said. “All of a sudden the house creaked a bit, and I said, ‘I’m glad I’m not out in that’.”
Stewart wasn’t aware a tornado was hitting nearby streets of his suburb until the next morning when he saw images on TV. The tornado struck East Tamaki around 9.30pm causing roofs to lift off homes, and toppling trees.
Authorities received more than 30 calls about damage.
“We would have been walking in that area, directly in the path of where that [tornado] would have gone and the number of bricks, tiles, fences [flying around], we would have been right in that,” Stewart said.
Stewart said he shuddered when contemplating what would have happened had they continued on the walk.
“I discussed this with people who had damaged houses and they agreed that Shiloh most likely saved my life,” Stewart said.
Animal behaviour expert Mark Vette said it is possible Shiloh sensed the stormy weather.
“There’s no doubt that dogs have sensory capacities and capabilities that are beyond ours,” Vette said.
Dogs hear twice as high frequencies as humans do and can hear ultrasound noise that we can’t.
“There’s been good research on things like tsunamis and other major weather events that dogs can sense,” Vette said.
Ron Stewart, with his dogs Shiloh and Minky, says he was saved from walking into the path of a tornado by his alert poodle. Photo / Michael Craig
Dogs can also sense pressure changes as well as their incredible sensory capacities through their mouths, making them incredibly intuitive.
“There’s no reason to believe that she wasn’t identifying a weather threat,” Vette said, but evidence of these abilities in dogs is still in the research phases.
Shiloh’s breed could have played a part as well, as poodles are considered one of the most intelligent breeds of dog, along with border collies.
Vette said his own dogs sense storms coming, and the more sensitive owners are to changes in dogs’ behaviour the more they will realise how much dogs pick up on.
