Stray dog saves Virginia family by alerting them to house fire

A stray dog known as Butter has been reunited with his owners after saving the family that took him.

Butter has spent the last few months living in a structure outside of Charity Golloway's home in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Golloway placed an electric lamp in the shelter to keep Butter warm, but last Thursday in the middle of the night, it caught on fire. Butter got out and began barking, waking up Golloway. Soon, the heat from the fire shattered her front window, and the flames started to grow.

Golloway's son used a hose to start extinguishing the flames, and firefighters finished the job once they were on the scene. The damage to the home was minimal, and there were no injuries. "If it wasn't for him, who knows what could've happened," Golloway told WJHL. "It could've been way worse. I'm really grateful for that stray dog that wandered up into my yard." Firefighter Justin Stidham agreed, saying if not for Butter, "that house would've been lit up all throughout the ceiling, and we would've been there for hours fighting that house."

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A picture of Butter with the firefighters went viral on social media, catching the attention of Butter's owners. They contacted Golloway, explaining that they'd been searching for Butter — whose real name is Cooper — since he ran away in the summer. He will be returned to his family, but first, Golloway planned to show her appreciation by cooking him a steak. "He's going to be leaving us and that makes me want to cry, but I'm happy for him," she told WJHL. "We will be staying in touch."