A couple who were keeping an eye on their beloved dog through a pet camera were left shocked after witnessing something deeply concerning in their home. Connor and Ale Barry spotted one year old Labrador, Vanilla, barking frantically in their kitchen – and the reason quickly became clear.
The pooch had noticed smoke pouring from their cooker. Bareknuckle fighter Connor subsequently turned to Instagram to share video footage of the incident and warn others about the risks electrical appliances pose to young children and pets. “This almost burned our house down… we weren’t home,” he stated on social media alongside the footage.
The recording went on to show Vanilla leaping up at the cooker and activating one of the hobs. “My wife and I installed a pet camera days ago… we were out doing the laundry and decided we would check on the dog,” Connor explained.
Vanilla suddenly started to howl and whimper – and the couple began to suspect something was seriously wrong. “We thought our dog was being dramatic, but she was trying to call for help!” Connor revealed. Sure enough, Vanilla had good cause for alarm, as a tea towel on top of the cooker had caught on fire.
“Right as we were about to log off, my wife noticed something,” Connor recalled. “Smoke.”
With Vanilla still crying out in desperation, he added: “Me and my wife were frantic driving home. We were watching live from the camera as smoke fills our kitchen. The alarms start going off. Vanilla is howling and screaming.”
The footage continued, showing Connor arriving home and dashing into the kitchen. “I ran as fast as I could inside and the second I got in, the towel had literally just ignited into flames and our salt shaker had melted to the stove,” he recounted.
Connor concluded with a “public service announcement” that stated: “We were lucky. Please childproof your stove if you have pets or kids…Vanilla almost burned our house down.”
He later told Newsweek that there was nothing on the hob that would have tempted Vanilla to leap up. “You would never expect something like this to happen,” Connor said. “We are so blessed that everything lined up that we could avoid a huge disaster!”
Reacting to the incident, one Instagram user advised: “Take the knobs off. One of our cats jumped up on the stove and turned a burner on while we were sleeping.”
Another person suggested: “Also, don’t leave things on the stove. That camera was a life saver. Glad everything turned out okay.” Meanwhile, a third lauded Vanilla: “It is absolutely incredible that the dog realised something was wrong so quickly.”