A stray dog taken in by owners of a store repaid their generosity by alerting them to a fire.

A security camera shows the dog barking as the fire breaks out in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, in the early hours of 31st May.

According to local media, the blaze started when an unknown person spilled a flammable liquid in a part of the store and set it alight.

After spotting the flames, the dog, Debora, started barking. Her barks alerted the owner of the store and his wife, who were then able to leave the premises with their three pet dogs safely.

The store owner, Orbey, told local media: “I have been asked a lot about the little dog in the post that was made, please tell them that she is fine, thank God.”

Orbey recounted how he and his wife had taken in Debora because a local person often abused her.

He said: “We would occasionally bring her into the store because there is a local man who would beat her a lot, and she would have a rough night.

“She was even poisoned three times, but we managed to save her life.”

The couple had taken in Debora on the night of the fire. According to local media, she confronted the person who started the fire, but the arsonist fled once the flames began to spread.

After Debora alerted the couple, she had to be treated by a vet for smoke inhalation. She was reportedly sick for several days but eventually recovered.

The premises reportedly sustained minimal damage in the blaze thanks to Debora’s timely intervention.

The couple have now adopted her permanently, and she will no longer sleep on the streets but with the store owners’ three other pet pooches instead.

Her new owner told local media: “Very grateful to this little dog, we owe her our lives.”