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Animal hero honoured for saving Edmonton woman

Noreen Lucas was in a deep, medicated sleep on the couch in her son's home. She woke up when she hit the floor, with the family dog pulling her towards the door. Away from the fire that soon engulfed the house.

'I wish a dog could talk,' says Noreen Lucas, 'so I could just say thank you'

Lydia Neufeld · CBC News ·
Rex, a 9 yr old Alaskan Malamute German Shepherd cross, was one of four dogs inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame on Tuesday. (Purina)

Noreen Lucas was in a deep, medicated sleep on the couch in her son's home.

She woke up when she hit the floor.

"Rexie [the dog] had a hold of my pajama pants, and he was pulling me towards the door," said Lucas, who lives in Edmonton.

She saw flames four feet from the couch.

"The house was engulfed in flames," she said. "It was a total inferno."

The fire happened on Christmas Eve 2015, at her son's home in Aberdeen, Sask.

Fire completely destroyed the house Noreen Lucas was sleeping in last December when Rex woke her and dragged her to the door. (Purina)

To Lucas and her family, her son's dog is a hero for saving her life that night.

"To know I was only four feet away from an inferno of flames, and this dog was dragging me," Lucas said, her voice cracking with emotion. "If he hadn't of done that, I would have been dead." 

Rex, a nine-year-old Alaskan malamute-German shepherd cross, was one of four dogs inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame during a ceremony Tuesday in Toronto. 

"I wish a dog could talk", Lucas said. "So I could just say thank you."

But Lucas believes Rex already knows she's grateful, because the two have always had a special relationship.

Whenever she visits and the time comes to leave, she tells Rex to "watch over my family, baby."

"Who would've known it would be me that he would save".
Noreen Lucas with Rex and her son Mitch Hawman in Aberdeen, Saskatchewan. (Purina)

That Christmas Eve, Lucas and the family pets were alone in the house. Rex never left her side as she returned to the burning house to save the other three pets, one at a time.

Two cats, Candy and Dave, and a wolfhound named Phoebe all survived the fire.

The house was destroyed and Lucas said her family plans to rebuild on the site.

Her words of advice to anyone with pets: "Take care of your animals, they'll take care of you."

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