Caldecott farmer thanks Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue for saving labrador stuck under garden shed

We’ve all heard about firefighters rescuing cats from trees, but what about dogs from under sheds?

Well, a crew from Corby were called to Andrew Brown’s farm in Caldecott on Sunday (July 21) night when his curious black labrador Sapphire went for a sniff under his garden office and ended up getting wedged underneath.

Quick-thinking Andrew called a contact he had at Leicestershire Fire and Rescue and quickly the crew from neighbouring Northamptonshire was dispatched, where they trained new recruits to lift the wooden structure up using air bags in a bid to coax the scared dog out.

When they couldn’t quite reach, they ended up resorting to cutting a hole in the floor so the eight-year-old dog could finally be freed.

“It was Sunday night and I thought ‘where has the dog gone?’”, Andrew, who is also a Rutland county councillor, said. “I’d seen her sniffing around the shed so I just thought I’d look underneath with a torch and there she was. I didn’t know what to do.

“The fire service were absolutely fantastic though. They arrived with blue lights on and they ended up using it as a training session so I didn’t feel like a complete idiot.”

Luckily when Sapphire was released, she was none the worse for her experience, and it won’t be happening again as Andrew has since boarded the base of the shed.

“I’d just like to say a big thank you to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue. The crews were very helpful and professional.

“It was probably one of our more eventful Sunday nights.”