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After spending nearly a year on a Georgia animal shelter’s adoption list, Kailey’s time was up. The shy 3-year-old shepherd mix didn’t like to be petted by strangers, which raised a big red flag for potential forever families.

“Her one issue was that something had happened to her in her past, so that if you tried to touch her and she did not know you, she would snap at you,” Jacqueline Berlin, who had fostered Kailey, told FOX 5.

Fortunately, Kailey’s life was spared, and not a moment too soon. Shortly before Kailey was going to be euthanized by DeKalb County Animal Services, Suzy Chandler came across the dog’s video on the DeKalb County Animal Services Facebook page.

“Do you like to be alone or just with a close friend?” the post read. “Is an evening at home surfing the web or cuddling with a loved one watching Netflix your idea of bliss? Does the idea of being grabbed anywhere by someone you don’t know horrifying? Meet your doggie soulmate: Kailey.”

It noted that while Kailey didn’t make the greatest first impression due to her “don’t touch me until I know you” issue, within 24 hours she would be in love with you. Her biggest flaw? She “has no idea of personal space. She is a Velcro dog who wants nothing more than to be with you.”

“The story of what she had been through just pulled on our heartstrings,” Chandler told FOX 5. “We just thought we would be the perfect people for her. It was a perfect match.”

On the morning of Dec. 30, just a couple of weeks after Chandler saved Kailey’s life, the former death-row dog paid it forward.

Kailey started barking and growling at Chandler, trying to get her attention. When Chandler took Kailey outside her house, thinking she needed a potty break, the dog pulled her toward the side yard.

“Right away I smelled overpowering gas and a loud whooshing sound,” Chandler told FOX 5. She called 911.

DeKalb County Fire responded and repaired the ruptured gas line. If Kailey hadn’t alerted Chandler to it, the outcome could have been disastrous. Chandler lives next door to an apartment complex where many children live.

“She’s our hero dog, because we don’t know what the outcome would have been,” Berlin told FOX 5.

Chandler hopes Kailey’s actions will inspire others to adopt pets, despite whatever red flags they may perceive. (“Here, here”, say Jean and Paul)

“If you have the space, you have room in your heart to take in a needy animal, to love on them,” she told FOX 5. “I mean it comes back to you tenfold.”

Kailey isn’t the only rescued dog who has rescued her family. Among these four-legged heroes last year were a pit bull named Leon who alerted his owner to an intruder in the house, a German Shepherd named Haus who protected a little girl from a rattlesnake, and a pug named Earl who, just a week after he was adopted, woke up his new family and saved them from a house fire.

Photo credit: YouTube

ooOOoo

Sometimes I despair about the world we live in. Then when I read such stories as this one about hero dog Kailey I think it could be so, so much worse.

Suzy Chandler and your wonderful Kailey, I salute you as true heroes.