If it wasn’t for the dog, they would all have died, a stunned relative has explained of the extraordinary story of Leo the dog, who started barking late on Wednesday night and would not stop until his owners woke up.
According to reports, the reason was a fire at the back of the family’s property, right next to a gas bottle.
Odete Vales, 79, her two daughters, aged 50 and 59, and her 42-year-old son suddenly realised why Leo had been making such a racket.
They got out of their home in Baguim do Monte, Gondomar, as if on rollerskates, and literally minutes later, the place blew up.
“They lost everything,” explained Correio da Manhã, but they would have been inside if Leo hadn’t warned them.
Ironically, this “happy animal story” came on the day that the nation’s media was ablaze with news of a village that burnt a terrified cat while it was stuck up a post in a clay pot (http://portugalresident.com/outrage-as-celebrating-bragan%C3%A7a-villagers-set-fire-to-terrified-cat).
