Rescue dog lifts Harrison cancer survivor's spirits, saves home from fire

A rescued dog that Harrison’s Michael Groce took in last May wound up becoming his rescuer.

After going through three bouts of cancer, through which he lost a kidney and parts of a lung, Groce, 53, found himself permanently disabled and unable to work.

His husband of six years, Ron Spiering, is an elementary school teacher. Groce had been a department manager for Walmart.

“I was home a lot by myself, going through depression and dealing with chemotherapy and immunotherapy,” Groce said. “I was getting really depressed.”

His oncologist suggested seeing a therapist. He did. It didn’t help.

“I started looking at dogs, just something that would be here with me,” he said.

When Groce took in a rescue dog, he couldn’t know that less than a year later that dog, Harley, possibly saved his home from a fire caused by something many do all the time — and that some people are doing, right now, as they read this.

On Jan. 19, Harley, a boxer mix Groce believes is about 3 years old, alerted him that a charging cable he had left plugged into an outlet after unplugging his cellphone was starting to burn the carpeting in the living room.

“We could have lost everything, including Harley,” Groce said. “If I had not been home and he not alerted me, it could have been catastrophic. We could have lost our home.”

Groce and Spiering adopted Harley in May from LifeSavers Animal Rescue, a nonprofit based out of Westmoreland County.

Harley’s background is a bit incomplete, and for certain reasons that’s intentionally so, says Cynthia Lippert, founder and president of LifeSavers. In short, Harley had been in a troubled home with several children and ended up abandoned.

“He was a little bit thin, but for the most part he wasn’t bad. Neighbors took care of him. He was being fed,” Lippert said. “You could tell he just didn’t have the proper attention and training that he needed. He was often tied to a tree.”

Harley was in LifeSavers’ care for a few months, and Groce and Spiering were the second potential adopters to see him.

“We thought Harley would be a great fit for him,” Lippert said. “Mike’s home all the time. Harley needed somebody that could really put some time into him and give him the attention that he needs.”

When they went to meet Harley, Groce said he came right to them. When they did a home visit, Harley made himself at home, and they agreed to take him.

Harley is very selective about who he likes.

“He does not take to people very well. He does not take to other animals very well. But, for some reason, he took to us,” Groce said. “He is very protective of me. He does not really leave my side. If I’m in a room, he’s in the room. If I leave a room, he leaves the room.”

That Tuesday in January, Groce did something just about everybody does — he unplugged his phone from its charging cable but left it plugged into the wall, near a recliner that sits close to the wall.

A throw pillow ended up on top of it.

While Groce was sitting on a couch across the room from the recliner, Harley kept getting up and smelling the pillow. After a few minutes, Groce started wondering what was interesting Harley so much — food, maybe.

“When I removed the pillow, I smelled something like an electrical fire. I looked down and that charger had started to burn the carpet,” he said. “It was probably half a cigarette length. It was kind of smoldering and smoking.

“There was no flame,” he said. “If he had not alerted me, I never would have looked at it.”

While Harley often reacts to loud noises, Groce said this was the first time Harley had alerted him to any kind of danger. Groce rewarded Harley with his special treat — freeze-dried salmon.

It’s happened before

Hilltop Hose fire Chief Mike Krzeminski said his department has responded to a few minor fires caused by charging devices. Thanks to Harley, this was one call his department never got.

With charging cables available almost everywhere, Krzeminski said it’s important to be sure they are UL approved, of high quality and used properly.

“It’s very easy to get those to short-out and cause a fire,” he said. “When you disconnect your cellphone, unplugging your charger is a very good idea.”

Groce has changed his habits. Now, everything gets unplugged when not in use, and the phones are charged before bedtime so they aren’t left plugged in overnight.

Lippert is happy Harley was there for Groce.

“Fires can move swiftly. You don’t know what that could have turned into,” she said. “Anything could have happened. It could have been devastating.”

“I think that it’s amazing when a dog leaves something so horrible and finds something so wonderful,” Lippert said. “Harley needed somebody, Mike needed somebody, and here they are.

“Rescue dogs are great dogs. Just because they were left behind doesn’t mean they can’t be the best dog on the planet.”

More battles to fight

Battling cancer since 2016, Groce could be facing a fourth fight after growths were found on two of the lumbar vertebrae in his spine. Doctors also found a microhemorrhage on his brain. He is waiting for test results.

“Right now, I’m just living day to day,” he said.

And Harley is there with him.

“He’s really helped me out. Dealing with cancer, you have good days and bad days, and the bad days are really bad,” he said. “They say dogs can sense cancer and stuff. It’s like he knows I’m dealing with something.”