Up On The Woof—

American Bulldog Rescued

From Perilous Perch

By Andrew Gorosko

Sometimes a dog just needs to get a little fresh air, but there’s no one home to let him out.

That apparent desire to breathe some fresh air last Sunday afternoon resulted in Trigger, an American bulldog, breaking through a window at a Sandy Hook Center home to get outdoors.

Unfortunately, that window was on the second story, and when Trigger got outside, he soon realized that he was standing on a small sheltering roof positioned above a ground-level doorway.

Thus, Trigger found himself stranded about 11 feet above ground at the house on Dayton Street, which is a side street extending from Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook Center.

A passerby alerted police of the situation and they went to the scene about 2:35 pm, with patrol Officer Steven Siecienski investigating.

Realizing that it would take some special gear to deal with the unusual situation, police called in the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company at 2:50 pm to rescue the canine from its perilous perch above ground.

Before long, firefighters arrived on the narrow winding road with their Quint multipurpose fire truck. The Quint truck contains a motorized telescopic ladder that provides firefighters with stable access to elevated positions.

In breaking through the window to get outdoors, Trigger received some minor cuts from passing through the shattered glass, said police Sergeant Christopher Vanghele.

The dog was not hostile while on the roof, and appeared ready to jump down onto the ground at several points during the incident, the sergeant said. The approximately 50-pound dog is about 12 years old.

After firefighters set up their equipment, Fire Captain Kevin Stoyak walked out onto the horizontally-extended ladder and was able to retrieve Trigger from his awkward position.

Firefighters then gave the dog to police who brought the canine to the town’s animal shelter on Ethan Allen Road for safekeeping.

The dog’s owner later retrieved Trigger from the animal shelter, Sgt Vanghele said.

The May 31 incident apparently was not the first time that the American bulldog needed to get outdoors in a hurry. About a week earlier at the same window, the dog pushed out a screen and was able to get outside and onto the small roof, the sergeant said.

In that case, the animal apparently was able to jump from the small roof onto the roof of an adjacent parked van. The dog then jumped to the ground and walked away. The animal control officer later found the animal wandering near the intersection of Church Hill Road and Washington Avenue.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead noted that the May 31 incident was the second roof rescue that firefighters had performed that weekend.

On May 30, they responded to a call for help from a home at Far View Drive in Pootatuck Park, where a man had become stuck on a garage roof and needed some help getting off the elevated surface.