A viral video of Leo trying to coax the pooch off the ledge by offering it food went viral yesterday.
“I didn’t expect the dog would lift its head and lean on the wall as if it was sulking. It was very cute,” the fireman who is based in the Seri Balik Pulau fire and rescue department told FMT.
The incident with the recalcitrant pooch took place on Jan 11, on the seventh floor of Dua Residensi in Teluk Kumbar, on the south coast.
“We used a safety line to get near the dog. At first it was aggressive, maybe it felt threatened. I then asked the man who had lodged the report to bring some food so I could coax the dog. He brought water and nuggets. When I went to feed the dog, it calmed down.”
Leo said he was pleasantly surprised by the dog’s antics, in behaving as if it was sulking and refusing to cooperate.
“When I went to feed it, it made that face, as if it was sulking. I tried to touch it, and it showed me its teeth, it was angry. So I told the dog, ‘okay, I won’t touch you, eat the food’. We tried to coax the dog for more than an hour, but it didn’t work,” he said.
In the end, Leo and his team had to use a gunny sack to carry the dog to safety.
“It struggled, but luckily didn’t fall. Once we went down, it became aggressive and broke free, running towards the rear of the building.”
Leo, who is from Sarawak, has been a fireman for four years. He has been part of plenty of weird and interesting operations.
“We will get calls about monitor lizards but when we get to the scene, it is just a regular household lizard. We have also got calls about snakes, but it turned out to be a rat.
“Regardless, we will attend to any call we receive from the public. That is why, since I was young, I wanted to be a fireman, it is a noble job. We help people,” the 23-year-old said.
Seri Balik Pulau fire and rescue department chief Faris Mansor told FMT that a resident had reported the dog’s predicament at 3.02pm and about 10 firemen were dispatched to the scene.
“When they arrived, the incident commander did a risk assessment and instructed the dog to be saved. We have to consider all aspects, some dogs may jump, some may bite, while some are cooperative, we can never tell.”
The antics of the dog, which was shared by the fire and rescue department on social media, tickled Malaysians.