Furry thief makes hasty getaway

Staffy-husky bitch Hennessy scared off an unknown - and furry - intruder in the early hours of yesterday morning. Photo / supplied

A furry thief who woke up a family dog made a getaway so hasty, even a glass door couldn't stop it.

The Auckland family was woken by the sound of smashing glass in the early hours of Christmas Eve.

Coral Ferguson heard the noise in her Takapuna home, but decided she had probably been dreaming and went back to sleep.

Later that morning Mrs Ferguson and the other residents of the house found a hole about 30mm wide in their glass front door, which had exploded outward.

The jagged hole was lined with several wisps of brown and white fur, and shards of glass were lying up to three metres away on the driveway.

The residents, who do not own a cat, concluded that an unknown animal had made its escape at speed through their front door.

They found paw prints on a lounge window sill, where the creature had apparently entered the house.

"From the window, the intruder would have run almost directly into our staffy-husky bitch, Hennessy, who was sleeping in the lounge at the time,'' said home owner Debra Charman.

"We think that it was a possum out to steal fruit from our Christmas fruit bowls, but that it dived through the door after waking up Hennessy.''