Dog Warns A Michigan Family Of 'Quiet Killer' Inside Their Home

ZEELAND, MI — Usually, Rascal gobbles down the Goldfish crackers Diane Smith gives him as treats. But one day last week, the 13-year-old dog was disinterested in the crackers and just about everything else.

Rascal was trying to tell Smith something Feb. 4, but she wasn’t sure what. She just knew it was unusual for him to turn up his nose at the crackers. When Rascal collapsed on the kitchen floor, she scooped him up and took him to the vet.

The veterinarian didn’t find any signs of illness, so Smith took Rascal home.

But he was listless, “just as limp as could be,” Smith told news station WXMI. She texted a friend, who relayed the situation to her husband.

“Tell her to get out of the house,” he reportedly said. “It might be carbon monoxide.”

Sure enough, Rascal was experiencing the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. Smith told WXMI that a furnace inspector said the unit had been leaking carbon monoxide for an undetermined amount of time, but not at a high-enough to register on the carbon dioxide detector.

"He was the alarm,” Smith told the news station. “So, we’re thankful for him for sounding that alarm, because the other alarm did not sound."

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas found in fumes produced by furnaces, kerosene heaters, vehicles warmed up in garages, stoves, lanterns, gas ranges, portable generators, or burning charcoal or wood.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls it “a quiet killer” because it can sicken or kill within minutes at high-enough levels. At least 430 people die in the United States from accidental carbon monoxide — or CO — poisoning, and another 50,000 visit emergency rooms, the agency says.

Here are some tips from the CDC to protect yourself, your family and your pets:

• Change the batteries in your carbon monoxide detector every six months; if you don’t have a CO detector or a battery backed-up CO detector, get one.
• Have your heating system, water heater and any other gas, oil or coal-burning appliances serviced by a qualified technician every year.
• Keep vents and flues free of debris. Debris can block ventilation lines.
• Never leave the motor running in a vehicle parked in an enclosed or partially enclosed space, such as a garage.
• Never run a motor vehicle, generator, pressure washer or any gasoline-powered engine less than 20 feet from an open window, door or vent where exhaust can vent into an enclosed area.
• Never use a charcoal grill, hibachi, lantern or portable camping stove inside a home, tent or camper.
• Never run a generator, pressure washer or any gasoline-powered engine inside a basement, garage or other enclosed structure, even if the doors or windows are open.
• If you suspect CO poisoning, call 911 or a health care professional right away.