Dog Saves His Own Life By Dialing 911

Shelley Mamott, Staff Writer

A two year old Basset Hound named George (not pictured) saved his own life by dialing 999, the British equivalent of 911. After knocking the family’s phone to the ground, George became tangled up in the cord.

As he tried to paw his way out of the situation, he somehow managed to dial 999 for help. The emergency operator, spooked by heavy breathing on the other end, alerted the police. When the police arrived they were preparing to knock down the door when a neighbor arrived on the scene to let them in. Thinking that someone had been attacked or was injured, they scoured through house before finding George choking in the living room.

Neighbour Paul Walker, 41, knew he had to get George free quickly so he ripped the phone apart so he could remove the wire from his throat.

His owner said afterwards, “By the time I got back the police had gone and George was looking a little sorry for himself. It is just so lucky that his paw managed to ring 999 otherwise he would have died. We still don’t know how he managed it. It’s one of those old-fashioned phones with the dialing ring.”

She added, “He’s not usually very smart. He’s really dopey and just likes to chew socks.”