How Pizza Dog became an unlikely fire safety mascot
Just when we thought pizza rat had set the bar for food theft among animals, a black Lab from Waterbury, Connecticut, has taken things to a whole new level. Like the aforementioned rodent, Brookfield loves himself some pizza. (Because of course he does.) When his family recently left two pizzas unattended in the kitchen, he decided to take advantage of the situation. He also accidentally set the house on fire in the process.
Oops.
The whole thing was caught on video, and we can only shake our heads as we watch poor Brookfield yield to temptation. He stands up on his hind legs and props himself up on the stove with his head jammed inside one of the pizza boxes and proceeds to chow down. We love how the other two dogs in the video totally make themselves scarce at this point. We’re sure they love pizza, too (obviously…who doesn’t?), but they’re not down with getting trouble. In the video you can see them with their tails wagging, just chilling with the humans (Gary and Katie LaClerc, who are clueless at this point) in the living room.
Meanwhile, Brookfield has accidentally turned on the stove with one of his paws. Um, UH OH. He doesn’t seem to notice his faux pas (paw?) as he polishes off his second slice and then casually strolls back in the living room like nothing is amiss. But something is amiss. Big time, you guys. As the stove heats up, the pizza boxes catch fire. Soon the kitchen is filled with very big, very real flames. Luckily, Gary enters the kitchen at this point. The fiery pizzas are quickly tossed on the floor and doused with water.
The LaClercs suspected that the stove didn’t turn itself on, so they watched the video from the surveillance camera in their kitchen. They installed the camera in order to keep an eye on the dogs when the family isn’t home. That seems like a good call. (We’re looking at you, Brookfield.) The video footage confirmed their suspicions. We’ve got a feeling it will be awhile before Brookfield gets another taste of pizza. He’s in the doghouse for the time being. (See what I did there?)
The LaClercs decided to post the video to YouTube because hey, it’s not every day that a dog tries to burn down a house. The vid soon caught the attention of Wolcott Fire Marshal Jim Frageau, who is now using it to teach fire safety. “I’d like to definitely use it for training for teaching people that you’ve got to think fire prevention every day because it happens that quick,” he told 22WWLP News. The National Fire Protection agency is also using the video for fire prevention education. Brookfield is a star.
So how exactly do you prevent a dog from turning on the stove? With child safety locks. It turns out they work on dogs as well as kiddos. That seems like a good thing, because nothing comes between a HANGRY dog and a yummy pizza. Just saying.
Check out pizza dog in action in the video below. (And props to pizza rat. He may have been a thief, but he drew the line at arson.)
[Image and video via 22WWLP.com]
