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Dogs have long been considered to be man’s best friend, and they’re said to be so for a good reason. They’re not just one of the friendliest and most loyal creatures around, but they’re also one of the most courageous and brave. One particular dog by the name of Zippy proved this again when he rescued his entire human family from a fire that razed their home. Unfortunately, Zippy himself was not able to survive the fire as he was unable to get out of the burning house after his owners.
Zippy: Dog from Florida Dies After Saving His Human Family from Fire
In the early morning hours of September 17, 2019, Leroy Butler of Bradenton, Florida, who was sleeping in the home he shared with his father and two children, was woken up by Zippy’s incessant barks. He opened his eyes to see that their home was on fire. Butler quickly got his family outside of their burning home.
“We just made it out the door while everything was collapsing, with a big plume of black smoke, and fire was everywhere.”
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Upon reaching the outside of their home, Butler quickly realized that their beloved Zippy was not with them and quickly got back inside their home to rescue their pet, who had become a precious member of the family.
“We made it out just in time. It went ‘poom’ and when I turn around, I’m making them run, and I go to get the dog,” he said to news reporters. “I just get all this black smoke and ‘poom’—all in my mouth, and all in my face. I was like ‘Okay, I gotta turn around. It’s too hot and I gotta get out of here.’”
Butler believes that poor Zippy, who was a tiny Jack Russell Terrier, simply couldn’t find a way to get past the large, all-consuming flames. He added, “The floor in the living room was all on fire so there was nowhere for him to run out. Even if the smoke was this high. He was a short little dog. There was nowhere for him to go.”
The Butler family’s fire alarm had failed, and it was only through Zippy’s constant barking that the family was able to wake up in time in order to get out of the burning house. Unfortunately, the hero dog did not have the same fate, as he ended up trapped in the burning house, dying from smoke inhalation. Afterward, when they went to look for him, they found him hiding under a bed inside a room.
Zippy, who will forever be remembered by Leroy Butler and his family for his heroic and life-saving act, was a rescue dog. He had been adopted by Butler’s father from the Humane Society of Manatee County as a pet for his two grandchildren.
In a final statement he made to the media, an emotional Butler said, “He was a good dog. He did his job, we rescued him, and I guess he returned the favor.”
He was a “good boy” indeed.
