Firefighters used road accident lifting gear to free puppy with his head stuck in reclining sofa

Firefighters were called to release a seven week-old puppy which got its head stuck in a reclining sofa. Staffordshire bull terrier-cross Milo jammed his head into the mechanism and couldn’t escape. His frantic owner Jessica Marsden, 17, and two friends couldn’t free the yelping puppy and dialed 999. Firefighters from Huddersfield turned out to Jessica’s Marsh home at 8pm on Monday night.
They needed lifting gear usually used in road accidents to take the weight of the sofa while the metal bars were cut away with hacksaws. Watch commander Graham Calcraft held Milo’s head still while colleagues carefully sawed through the metal. Watch Commander Calcraft said: “It was a delicate operation and I think at first his owner thought the dog had been impaled on the metal, but that wasn’t the case.”

The rescue operation took half-an-hour and Milo emerged distressed but unhurt. Jessica told how Milo disappeared round the back of the sofa and didn’t come out. “We then heard him yelping and looked underneath and we found his head was stuck in the mechanism,” she said. “I was screaming and crying and thought he was going to die.

“My friend said to call the fire brigade and we held him until they arrived. He was turning blue and my friend kept checking his heartbeat.” As many as 10 firefighters crowded into Jessica’s living room. “They did a great job,” she said. Jessica has only had Milo for a week. “He’s really naughty, but I’ve bonded with him so quickly,” she said. “He was fine afterwards and only had a little cut. I hope he keeps out of trouble now.”