WHILE many stories have been told about calls to the fire service to rescue a cat stuck up a tree or a bird trapped in a chimney, firefighters were most definitely needed to come to the aid of one particular pet in need.

Crews were called to a report of a property fire in Poole and established there were not any people in the building.

However, they did locate a dog in the home and acted quickly to rescue it from the site.

Upon taking the Labrador to a safe area, firefighters used oxygen therapy for the animal before a further crew arrived with specialist equipment to care for the canine.

A Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "One pump from Westbourne and two pumps from Poole were mobilised to a report of a property fire in Churchill Crescent, Poole.

"On arrival the Westbourne crew used breathing apparatus to search the property for any persons inside and rescued a dog from the property. No other persons were involved.

"The crew used oxygen therapy on the dog until the arrival of the Poole crew who took over using their specialist animal equipment called Smokey Paws.

"The fire which was located in the ground floor kitchen was extinguished using four breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets and one covering safety jet."

Following the treatment with the Smokey Paws equipment, which is specially designed to fit the snout of the animal, the dog was conscious and left in the care of its owners in good health.

The incident on Friday afternoon, which was called in to the fire service at 3.36pm, followed the sounding of a smoke alarm that alerted a neighbour to the blaze and they called the emergency services.

The fire service said they continue to offer free safe and well checks for properties. More information can be found online at dwfire.org.uk.