A Heroic Dog Award is on its way from PETA to a local dog named Kobe, who saved his neighborhood last month from a potentially deadly gas leak.

Kobe’s guardian, Chanell Bell, told PETA that he first tried to alert her to the gas leak by digging a hole in their yard. She covered it up—but a few days later, Kobe returned to the same spot, dug another large hole, and stood over it, looking serious and determined. Bell checked the hole with a gas-detection device, found that there was a gas leak, and notified the gas company. Responders found, in total, three mainline gas leaks entering homes in the neighborhood, including Bell’s. If unchecked, the leaks could have caused respiratory issues, brain damage, death—or an explosion.

Photo courtesy of Chanell Bell

Bell told PETA that Kobe is a rescued dog she adopted at 6 months old. She now considers him her protector and even published a book about how he saved their neighborhood.

“Kobe’s intelligence and determination saved his guardian, his neighbors, and his whole block,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “His story reminds us that many loving, dedicated dogs are just waiting for the right family to come along, and PETA encourages anyone with the ability and resources to care for an animal to adopt one from a local shelter and never to buy from a pet shop or breeder.”

PETA is sending Bell a framed certificate along with a “doggie bag” of goodies for Kobe to enjoy.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.