A female terrier mix named Miley was named as the 2009 Hero Dog of the Year on May 19th by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles.

 

Miley earned the reward as she saved her owners Stacie Pitts and Randy Childers from possible severe carbon monoxide poisoning last year in their Arkansas, USA, home. Stacie was sound asleep in the middle of the night when Miley went to her and woke her up. However, Stacie didn't think too much of it and dozed off again. But Miley persisted and roused her from her sleep again shortly after.

 

This time Stacie knew something was wrong as she felt very nauseous and had a splitting headache. She woke up her fiancé, Randy along with his daughter, both of whom realized that they were suffering from the same symptoms as Stacie. They immediately dialed 911 and the emergency rescue unit rushed over and took the family straight to the hospital. Doctors soon discovered that all three of them were suffering from poisoning, with carbon monoxide levels of between 17 and 25.