KENT, Wash. — A dog in Kent, Washington, accidentally turned on the kitchen stove while looking for food, police said.
The Kent Police Department said an elderly medium-sized rescue dog was left home alone, which was normal. She usually spends her day sleeping by the window to be able to bark at the leaves. When the dog’s owner got home, the house became filled with natural gas.
“It’s a safety issue that most of us haven’t seen before. A little bit of Googling later and it turns out this actually happens more than we knew,” said a spokesperson, according to KIRO.
“This formally well-behaved dog was smelling residual food smells from the previous night’s dinner,” police said. The dog had gotten onto the stove to steal some food that wasn’t there and hit the gas stove knob and powered it on. Fortunately, the owner could hear the stove clicking when he got home and was able to turn it off immediately.
The owner opened all the windows to get the smell out, police said. Both the owner, the dog and their house are OK.
“If you have a dog that has any chance to reach those knobs and loves their snacks, (or curious toddlers) consider getting child-proof knobs for your gas stove,” said a spokesperson, according to KIRO. “Holidays mean excited pets and children visiting your homes. It’s a good time to buy these gadgets that are not too expensive.”