Dog Saves Wind Point Neighborhood

Becky might be deaf, but there is nothing wrong with her nose. The dog was out with her owner for her evening walk Monday around 9 p.m. when she smelled gas coming from a spot under a road in her Wind Point neighborhood.

Len Lamberg, Becky's owner, said she pulled him to a spot near the corner of Meriburr and Tera Lee, where he could also smell gas.

"The smell wasn't strong and if she hadn't pulled me over there and kind of worried at it, I wouldn't have noticed it," he said. 

Lamberg said he went home and called WE Energies to let them know about the leak. The representative who answered the phone led him through a series of questions to determine where crews should be dispatched.

"I could tell it wasn't from a house, but from right under the street," he added. "Becky and I are kind of a fixture in our neighborhood around that time so we're very familiar with the sights and sounds of where we walk. Oh, and I guess the smells, too."

Becky is a 14-year-old mixed breed dog whom the Lambergs rescued years ago. She lost her hearing about a year ago, but her other senses have only gotten sharper. Lamberg said she woke up at about 2 a.m. Tuesday to what he thought was a thunderstorm rolling through the area.

"I went to let her out and it turns out there was a thunderstorm but there was also a WE Energies crew jack hammering the street to take care of the problem," he continued. "In the middle of the storm, the WE Energies crew started digging up the street to repair the gas leak."

WE Energies Spokesperson Brian Manthey said crews did respond to Lamberg's call and discovered a small leak at an underground valve. During the rain and considering the overnight hour, workers made the area safe and returned Tuesday afternoon to finish the work.

"It was a slight leak that was not migrating to homes," he said. "Of course we don't know that when we get the call so we respond immediately and were able to make the area safe until repair work could complete today."

Manthey said no one was ever in any danger, but he appreciates Becky's alert sense of smell and Lamberg's call.

Becky knows she's done something good and is letting the family's two cats know it, too, Lamberg said.

"I think she's a hero," he said. "She might be deaf, but her nose works just fine."