Massachusetts

Police Save Choking Puppy in North Reading

"My whole hands pretty much wrapped around him, and I started kind of pumping away at his chest"

A 9-week-old puppy is alive and well after Massachusetts police officers saved him from choking.

Megan Vitale rushed into the North Reading Police Department Sunday afternoon with her friend carrying a puppy in distress close behind.

Surveillance footage shows officer Jorge Hernandez rush around the corner and drop to his knees.

The puppy, a 9-week-old St. Bernard, was not breathing and was unresponsive.

"You don't really train for a dog in the academy, so the only thing I would say going through my mind was, 'Oh my God, I hope I'm doing this right,'" Hernandez said.

In the video, Hernandez is soon joined by fellow officers and members of the fire department. All the while, Vitale paces, her agony very apparent.

"My whole hands pretty much wrapped around him, and I started kind of pumping away at his chest," Hernandez recalled.

The puppy was choking, but that did the trick. Firefighters quickly put on a specially designed oxygen mask. The dog visibly becomes more alert in the footage.

The animal is being treated for a possible respiratory illness but is expected to make a full recovery.

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