Pet cat has to be rescued from house fire started by family dog

A cat had to be resuscitated after being rescued from a house fire which is thought to have been started by the family dog.

Herbie the dog is believed to have accidentally caused the blaze by jumping on a work top and accidentally turning on the toaster in the home in Margate.

A 12-year-old child inside the house heard the smoke alarm triggered in the kitchen - and alerted the rest of the family.

Herbie escaped with the child and the rest of the family, but firefighters had to rescue their black cat, Mush.

Mush was found by fire crews hiding unconscious between two pillows.

She was brought to safety and a pet oxygen mask was used to resuscitate her.

The fire caused extensive damage to the home - but luckily no-one was harmed and the family are now living in temporary accommodation.

After the blaze, the family said: 'We didn't realise that Herbie jumping up could result in so much damage, and that pets could accidentally start fires this way.

'So we want to share what has happened to raise awareness.' 

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) 

KFRS Area Manager for Customer Safety, Suzanna Chisholm, said: 'You don't necessarily expect a dog to be able to start a kitchen fire - but it can and does happen.

'The swift actions of this young man undoubtedly made a huge difference to the outcome of this incident, saving his pets and preventing further damage to his home.. It goes to show how important working smoke alarms are.

'To help reduce the chance of electrical fires we advise everyone to switch off and unplug electrical items off when not in use, which will also prevent pets, or children, accidentally turning them on.

'People can also close their kitchen door when not in the room, if they have one, to make sure pets don't jump up and knock switches, like cooker knobs.'

KFRS has responded to 28 kitchen fires that it believes was started by pets in the last three