Milwaukee, WI – A Wisconsin couple says that they owe their lives to their pet chicken, who alerted them to a fire in their house.
A pet chicken named Cluck Cluck woke 59-year-old Dennis Murawska’s wife with loud clucking from its cage in the basement on Thursday. Murawska’s wife, 52-year-old Susan Cotey, awoke around 6:15am and discovered that the couple’s cats were also running around on the main floor of their home, reports The Duluth News Tribune .
Murawska said he was half-awake, but didn’t think anything was amiss because fire alarms hadn’t gone off. When his wife got up, he knew something was off.
“The chicken gets quite vocal when she gets excited,” he said.
The couple managed to escape their burning home, and firefighters rescued Cluck Cluck and one of the cats from the basement. The other cat is presumed dead, according to Murawska. The couple and their surviving car checked into a Black River Falls hotel, and Cluck Cluck is staying with her former owner, reports MyFox8 .
Alma Center Fire Chief Jeff Gaede said authorities do not suspect foul play in the fire, which started in the attic of the attached garage. The house was destroyed, but the outcome could have been worse, if not for Cluck Cluck.
“We are used to hearing about a dog or cat or something, but we never heard of a chicken waking up a resident for a fire,” Gaede said. “That’s pretty amazing.”
Murawska adopted Cluck Cluck when the chicken began wandering over to his house from his neighbor’s. The neighbor told Murawska that he could kill Cluck Cluck if he got in his way, because she wouldn’t produce eggs. Murawska took pity on the chicken, and decided to keep her.
“I spent way more money than I ever should’ve,” Murawska remarked of Cluck Cluck. “I guess it paid off.”
