Firefighters aren’t keen on the cat-in-a-tree stereotype. A dog in a sump, however…
West Vancouver Fire and Rescue members saved a Doberman puppy that fell into a pit Saturday afternoon. The pup, named Cody, had been playing with another dog in the backyard of a Caufeild area home when the incident happened under the deck.
“It was about four feet down with a very narrow opening. It couldn’t be reached from the outside of the hole by hand,” said duty chief Gord Howard.
Crews rigged a sling to the end of a pike pole and placed it around Cody like a harness, before lifting the dog to safety.
“The puppy was very, very friendly,” Howard said. “It was playing with crew afterwards, wanting to bounce around so it was no worse for the wear, and the owner was very happy, obviously, to have the dog back safely.”
The crew have informally named the new harness the “Cody Strap,” after the dog.
Unlike most callouts, this one ended with the crew posing for a photo with their rescue subject.
“For us, oftentimes, we deal with lots of nasty calls where people are hurt and we’re trying to stabilize a nasty situation, be it a fire or car accident or a medical call. It’s always nice for our crews to have a happy ending to a call. This was certainly one,” Howard said. “It’s really what we sign up for the job to do.”
