Cranberry firefighters responded to an unusual call after a local Labrador retriever found itself stuck in a piece of equipment at the Nickel Bros. property south of Nanaimo.
On Thursday, Jan. 25, firefighters rescued a three-year-old dog named Tanker which got stuck in a hydraulic apparatus that was once used to do maintenance on Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bridge.
According to Garry Hein, deputy chief with the Cranberry Volunteer Fire Department, Tanker got wedged inside the equipment while chasing a rabbit, and responders were unable to reach the animal.
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A member of the department with welding experience, Tyler Yarocki, ended up cutting the side of the machine with a torch provided by Nickel Bros., and when the side was open and cooled off, another department member crawled in the hole, untangled the dog’s legs and released the pet to its concerned owner.
“I’ve cut people out of a vehicle, I’ve done all kinds of things, but I’ve never gotten this much response from a dog rescue,” said Hein. “Even the dispatcher, they phoned an hour later and said ‘we need an update on the dog, can you give us an update?’ Even though there’s injuries and airlifts and evacuations, they want to know about the dog.”
Tanker was calm throughout the ordeal and when he was released, he “eagerly” accepted a treat, rescuers reported.
bailey.seymour@nanaimobulletin.com
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