Choking Dog 'Dials' Police, Saved From Strangulation

A dog that was being choked by a telephone cord unwittingly called British emergency services as he thrashed around to get free, summoning the help that saved him from strangulation.

The dog - a basset hound named  George -  got into trouble when he knocked the phone to the floor and the cord wrapped around his neck, The Sun newspaper reported.

In his struggles, the 2-year-old dog somehow dialed 999, the British emergency hotline.

The emergency operator could only hear sounds of heavy breathing and gasping on the line, and police were dispatched to the West Yorkshire location. As officers were preparing to break in the door, neighbor Paul Walker opened it with a spare key the animal's owner had left him.

Walker and police searched the house frantically. It was Walker who found the distressed dog and freed him. George was "absolutely terrified," Walker told the Sun.

"When the police came into the room and realized what had happened they burst out laughing," he added.

George's owner, Lydia Brown, 18, said the dog was lucky his paw hit the dial the way it did. She described the pooch as "not usually very smart.

"He's really dopey," she said, "and just likes to chew socks."