RESCUED: Horsham Fire Brigade volunteer Joel Wills rescued silky terrier Junior, 13, after the blind dog became trapped between a fence and a shed in its Horsham backyard. PICTURE: PAUL CARRACHER.
HORSHAM Fire Brigade volunteer Joel Wills rescued a blind dog after it became trapped between a fence and shed on Wednesday morning.
Silky terrier Junior, 13, was in its backyard and became disoriented.
Owner Sheila Winter said 'seemingly senile' Junior took a wrong turn and became lost in brambles.
"Junior got stuck in a narrow opening between a fence and tin shed," she said.
"I can't tell you how relieved and grateful we are to the volunteers for their prompt and wonderful response.
"They were very kind because they knew we were so distressed."
Mrs Winter said Junior was inseparable from her husband Rossco Winter.
"They go out for a McDonald's ice-cream every evening; it is Junior's highlight of the day," she said.
Mr Wills said the rescue job was rare for the fire brigade.
"There was enough room to get in behind the shed and grab the dog with a torch," he said.
"I didn't have to break anything to get at it.
"The dog could not come out by itself because it's blind."
The dog rescue follows a kitten rescue at Athlete's Foot Horsham in early January.
A stray kitten, eight weeks, became stuck in a wall at the business.
Store manager Felicity Grainger said Horsham State Emergency Service volunteers were called.
"The SES volunteers were really helpful," Ms Grainger said.
"It took them a couple of hours to get the kitten out.
"I took it to the vet and it's fine now. I had hoped to adopt the kitten with my sister, but it went into a foster care program and the woman who was fostering it decided to keep it."