Ventura County firefighters rescue dog whose head became stuck in steel pipe

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - Ventura County firefighters rescued a dog after its head became stuck in a steel pipe in Upper Ojai Tuesday afternoon.

Around 1:17 p.m., a two-year-old German Shepherd named Heidi spotted a squirrel and began chasing it around the 12000 block of Sulphur Mountain Road.

County Fire said the squirrel attempted to evade the dog by jumping into a steel pipe. Heidi decided to investigate by pushing her head into the five-to-six inch wide pipe, but was unable to pull it out.

Firefighters said they arrived at the scene with a lot of liquid soap and spent the next half-hour spreading the soap around the dog's neck area and gently pulling to help ease her out of the pipe.

Fresh air was also administered into the pipe from air bottles to help alleviate the possibility of there being toxic fumes inside the pipe that could potentially harm the dog.

With one final pull, Heidi was freed.

#Dog Rescue: Heidi, the 2 year old German shepherd was just freed from a steel column with the help from your @VCFD firefighters in Upper Ojai. 4 determined #firefighters + liquid soap + gentle pull = happy reunion for Heidi and her owners. -RW pic.twitter.com/cgyLaIElUZ

— VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) March 9, 2021

Firefighters said a veterinarian was on scene during the incident and assessed the dog for injuries immediately after. They said the dog appeared to be okay.

While it is not common to respond to calls like this, Ventura County firefighters said they are always willing to help out the four-legged residents across their county.