Firefighters rescue dog from reclining chair

Ebonyzer the Jack Russell terrier wasn't his typically frisky, exuberant self on Friday afternoon at his home at the Sunrise of Naperville Senior Living center east of the city's downtown. Hobbled by an injured right hindquarter, it was about all the 5-year-old dog could do to limp from the facility's garden to the room of his master, Ken Makris.

The affectionate and popular pooch was recovering from the pain and indignity inflicted in a freak accident — becoming trapped between the footrest and base of his master's electric-powered reclining chair.



His predicament was dire enough that three Naperville Fire Department firefighters had to be summoned to the center. And after trying to release Ebonyzer with the "jaws of life" extrication device typically reserved for traffic crashes, his rescuers finally freed him by cutting away part of the recliner's frame with a power saw.

Makris took the dog to his veterinarian on Friday morning. The veterinarian prescribed medication for the muscle damage Ebonyzer sustained to his right rear leg and hindquarter. The normally happy and energetic canine spent Friday as sad-eyed as any Basset Hound, despite being fussed over all day by the center's residents and staffers.