Rescue Dog Hailed a Hero for Alerting Owners to Devastating Fire Next Door

A rescue dog who suffered the heartbreak of being adopted and returned three times before finally finding his forever home has been hailed a hero after he alerted his owners to a devastating fire next door.

Bud the Labrador mix is living proof that not all heroes wear capes. Some are rescue dogs who just need a little tender loving care to achieve great things.

That was exactly what Bud got from the moment he came into the care of Mark Loar and his husband Glenn Searle of Venice, California.

Up until that point, Bud has experienced more than his fair share of heartbreak.

When he arrived at the Best Friends pet adoption center from a Los Angeles city shelter in February 2020, Bud had already been through at least two homes in his young life.

An energetic, adventurous dog, Bud had no problems mixing with people. It was a different story when it came to other pets. A third failed adoption followed during his time at Best Friends, but staff at the center could see he was a good boy with a good heart.

Chantel Feola, who at the time was a supervisor at the pet adoption center, said: “Right from the start, we could tell he was super friendly. He loved people a lot and he didn’t want to be in the kennel by himself.

“He seemed very smart, too. In fact, it got to the point where he couldn’t be out in the yard anymore off leash […] We had these large planters that were 3 or 4 feet high and if he got on top of them, he could easily jump the gate.”

It was clear that in order for him to thrive he would need to take center stage in the lives of whoever took him on. That was where Mark Loar came in. A volunteer dog walker at the Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in West Los Angeles, Loar was immediately smitten by the “handsome” Lab mix with the distinctive gray peppery facial hair.

“I wanted to walk him but each time I looked at the schedule, Bud was taken. But one day I noticed that he needed a walk so I took him out,” Loar said. “He was a very sweet dog, walked on a leash, knew his commands. I asked for a kiss and he gave me one.”

In 2021, Loar decided to take Bud home for an overnight sleepover to test out whether the arrangement could turn into something more permanent. That wasn’t just a big step for Bud either. A few months earlier, Loar and Searle had lost their beloved Lab-greyhound-boxer mix Jackson, whom they had raised from a puppy to the age of 12.

However, Bud quickly helped the couple fill the void left by Jackson’s passing and his stay in the house was made a permanent one—and just as well too.

Around a year and a half later and with Bud now a firm part of the family, the couple were perturbed one night to find their dog, who was usually fast asleep by 8 p.m. at the latest, bolt upright staring wide-eyed out of their bedroom window.

Nicknamed “the sentry” by his owners, Bud’s heightened sense of hearing would often prompt a reaction at the slightest hint of any unusual sound.

“All noises garner a response from Bud,” Loar said. “He usually lets out a good, hefty bark and goes to the door, but this particular night there was no bark. We have a balcony where he goes up and puts his front feet up on the ledge, and that’s where he was — fixated on something.”

That something turned out to be a fire in the house next door. A blaze that would come to be known as the Venice Canal Fire and one that was starting to spread when Bud spotted it.

Reacting quickly to their dog raising the alarm, the couple called 911 and began alerting the neighborhood with shouts of “fire!”

Realizing the blaze was quickly getting out of control, the couple abandoned attempts to control it and made a quick exit with Bud in tow.

It was only later that the devastating effect of the fire would be revealed with three homes destroyed and two damaged in a blaze that required more than 100 firefighters to control.

Loar and Searle were some of the lucky ones, with the tireless work of the firefighters at the scene ensuring the structure of the building was saved from the destructive blaze.

Loar believes he has his dog to thank for that. “Because Bud got me to the window, he may well have saved our house,” he said.

He’s not the only one eager to thank the rescue pup. In the months since the fire, Bud has emerged as something of a local hero with nearby residents showering him with gift like biscuits, training treats and squeaky toys.

Now aged 7, Bud is showing no signs of slowing down with Searle describing him as “probably one of the most high-energy dogs we’ve ever had.”

Not that he’s complaining though. “We live near the beach and are both retired, so we have time to give Bud two good walks a day so he can burn off energy. And it helps us keep fit, too.”

From serial adoption reject to local hero, Bud is proof that some dogs just need the right owner to thrive in life.

Julie Castle, CEO at Best Friends Animal Society, told Newsweek: “It’s stories like Bud’s that shine a light on adoption as the right option when opening your home to a new pet,”

“Bud was a dog who bounced around a bit and now he is hero who saved the lives of his loving people. There is no more perfect time than right now to get out and adopt a homeless pet and help us reach our goal of saving the lives of cats and dogs in America by 2025.”

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