Clever cop saves dog with a moment of inspiration
A resourceful police officer has saved a dog’s life with a moment of pure inspiration.
Cortlan Bennett was fishing at Point Samson, on the Pilbara coast in Australia, with his dog Indi, a 14-year-old Alsatian. Mr Bennett had hooked a fish that fell between a gap in the rocks, and what started as a slight annoyance quickly escalated when Indi jumped in the gap to investigate.
The gap in the boulders was the perfect size for Indi to slip in, but it meant he couldn’t get out!
“The hole was only big enough for him to go in, and it was just impossible for my wife and I to get him out, poor bugger,” Mr Bennett said.
Because Indi was so firmly wedged in the hole any attempt to pull him out scraped his skin and caused him to bite on Mr Bennett’s hand in retaliation.
“He's had a bit of a chew on my hand, you know the hand that's grabbing some of his skin, to sort of say, 'Let go'," Mr Bennett said. "We went down again to try and get him out a second time, and this time we pulled him and he gave me a really good nip on the finger and did a bit of nerve damage.”
Police and firemen called to the scene briefly considered using the jaws of life, but they felt as though it was a bad idea due to the unstable nature of the surrounding boulders.
Just when all hope looked lost one police officer had a bright idea.
“He sort of looks down at his gun holster... there's an elastic band that holds the weapon to his thigh,” Mr Bennett said. “He takes the elastic band out of his gun holster, and he lengthens it, and he sort of makes a few adjustments, and he says, 'Can you make a muzzle out of this?'”
Image credit: Twitter / ABC Kimberley
With the holster-turned muzzle in place Indi couldn’t bite her rescuers and it actually provided him with enough comfort for the rescuers to pull him out with one final heave.
“The same officer, Jay, was able to sort of get in there and get a really firm grip on Indi,” Mr Bennett said. “And then Jay gives him one final big yank and finally gets him out. I tell you what, it was such a relief. I must admit I shed a couple of tears because it was pretty emotional for my wife and I.”