An 11-year-old pit bull is being hailed as a hero after she went to great lengths in order to escape from her home and bring police officers to the door.

In all the years that Sadie has lived with her owners in Tuckahoe, New York, she has never ran away from home – but last week, Sadie escaped through her back door and started wandering up and down city streets barking up a storm.

When the police department received several calls about a noisy runaway pit bull, they arrived on the scene only to have Sadie take off running through the neighborhood.

Police officers chased the pit bull until she finally led them all the way to the backyard of her home – and they were surprised to find that the sliding door was open and the fence was broken. Not only that, they detected the odor of gas coming from inside the house.

The responders then found that the smell was coming from a gas leak in the basement.

If Sadie had not alerted law enforcement to the impending danger, the leak could have led to an explosion – or maybe something worse.

At the time of their discovery, Sadie's owner Serena Costello had been out with her 4-year-old daughter. Even though they weren't home, further investigation of the house showed that Sadie had gone to great lengths to ensure her family's safety; the canine hero had left bloodied claw marks on the door frame trying to escape and she only managed to open the sliding door by digging out a wooden door blocker from its resting place.

Upon hearing that her pup had prevented a disaster in the making, Costello was overwhelmed with gratitude for her furry companion.

"She is a hero," Costello told WABC. "She is our hero. It's just so out of character for her to do. She saved our lives. Yeah. Emotional.

"[Police] had to write me a summons, which they didn't want to, but I guess it's the law for having an unleashed dog in the area," Costello added. "But one of the police officers, I guess after [they said that it] was a gas leak, took the summons and ripped it up."

(WATCH the news coverage below or our international viewers can watch the video on the CBS News website) – Photo by WLNY

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