Puppy alerted owner to fire

A puppy by the name of Ratbag may have saved her owner's life by waking him during a fire in his West Coast house.

Far from being a ratbag, the six-month-old staffy-cross jumped on Jason Mathews' bed as fire tore through the Hokitika house about 5.15am on Monday,

"(Ratbag) was sleeping in the room as well, but then I felt her jump on the bed. She jumped down again and then back on...then she started to growl. That's when I woke up," Mr Mathews told the Hokitika Guardian.

"I sat up and my head was in the smoke. I felt the heat of the smoke on my face and started choking. I grabbed the dog in one arm and bailed out the window."

It was not until he was outside and saw the house being gutted that he realised how lucky he had been.

Mr Mathews is now moving to a property where he cannot keep Ratbag "and she deserves a really good home".

- NZPA