Quebec dog goes missing after alerting family to fire, owner says

MONTREAL – A family in southern Quebec is crediting their dog with alerting them to a fire that was tearing through a luxury bed-and-breakfast.

Family member Ely Conway says she’d just returned from a walk with dogs Moka and Bella Tuesday evening when she heard a muffled noise that sounded a bit like an alarm.

She says the dogs immediately bolted towards the sound and started barking, which led Conway to discover the fire and call 911.

Conway says three-year-old Bella, who belongs to the daughter of the building’s owner, got scared and ran away during the fire that ravaged the retreat in Sutton, about 110 kilometres southeast of Montreal. The dog is missing.

Conway says the buildings’ alarms hadn’t all sounded yet, and Bella’s early warning helped save the building’s four occupants.

Bella’s owner Barbara Bedkowska has published a Facebook post pleading for people to look out for her dog, which she describes as a mixed breed that looks a bit like a husky.