Huge operation launched to rescue dog from garage roof

A householder in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, thought the worst when she received a call to say firefighters were at her house. The woman, who does not wish to be named, said her "legs went funny" when she heard the news. But it soon transpired that there was nothing too serious to worry about - it was just a small matter of her dog getting loose and somehow finding his way onto the roof of her garage.



The adventures of Diesel the Alsatian led to four fire appliances, rope rescue teams from the Highfields and Newark stations, the animal rescue team from East Leake, a fire engine and support crew from Stockhill - plus the station manager from Bestwood Lodge headquarters dashing to his rescue. The drama unfolded at around 1.30pm on Friday. The pooch's owner said she was at work when she received a call from the fire service.



She said: "Well that's not a call you ever want as all kinds of thoughts go through your mind. My legs went funny." But an officer quickly explained that Diesel had got out the upstairs window at her home and onto the garage roof. The stricken pet could not get back in, so firefighters went ahead and used specialist lifting equipment to rescue him. The woman added: "Anyone who knows Diesel would know he struggles to climb the stairs usually, so I was surprised about what had happened."



But the dog is fine and back inside the house - wondering what all the fuss was about. A spokesman for the fire and rescue service said the rescue lasted about half an hour, and added: "This certainly was an unusual incident for us, but we are attending more and more incidents involving animals and have now had some specialist training. However a barking Alsatian on a roof wasn't quite what we expected. Thankfully we rescued him without too much difficulty or injury."