Puppy choked to death in freak lift accident

A designer dog choked to death after being dragged six feet into the air when its lead became stuck in the doors of a lift.

The Bichon Frisé's owner, who was inside the lift, could only listen in horror as her six-month old pet Lola was strangled on the other side of the doors at a Brighton shopping centre.

Dee Perch, 57, was handed the body of her puppy after being freed from the elevator by firefighters an hour later. "She looked perfect, as if nothing had happened to her. I'm still in shock. She was growing into a lovely little dog," she said.



Miss Perch, from Brighton, East Sussex, said that she only noticed that Lola had not entered the lift with her as the doors began to close. "The lift started going up. I couldn't stop it," she said.

"I had one end of the lead and the other was on the other side. I heard an awful scream."

A spokesman for the fire service said the incident was a "freak accident", adding: "It was a tragedy really."