Traditionally, firefighters are called in to rescue cats from trees (if cartoons have anything to say about it, at least) bbut this time, it was a dog who benefited from the rescue knowledge the brave men and women of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department have cultivated.

After receiving a call about a small dog who had gotten trapped in the HVAC system of a West Springfield-area home this past Friday night, crews responded.

The team worked diligently to determine the dog’s location and craft a strategy to safely extract it from the duct. In the end, the dog was removed unharmed, but we can’t report the same for the ceiling.

Check out the video of the frazzled-but-uninjured pup being rescued:

The department let its social media followers know via multiple platforms with a fun sense of humor. The tweet read: “Engine 427, West Springfield, responded to a ruff and far-fetched rescue last night. A small dog was trapped in an HVAC duct. Crews took a paws to shed light on dogs location and work out strategy. Firefighter Williams cut a hole in ceiling and retrieved dog. A pawsitive outcome!”

*****

A pretty strange rescue, but if you REALLY love wild stories of rescue, check out this video from The Dodo!

In this dramatic compilation, there’s only one dog story – but all three are about as compelling as could be, and feature people who are, without a doubt, genuine heroes. The first is an especially scary one, in which two bucks became antler-entangled, a terribly dangerous situation for the animals if they failed to disentangle, but also for the men trying to free them!

In the second, a lovely horse is trapped in the rising Texas floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey, too frightened to move.

And in the last, we have our sweet dog story, wherein the pup fell down a well and was unable to get out. Clinging desperately to the rock, she tries to stay afloat — and finally, at last, is rescued.

It was a very happy ending for a 9-year-old girl in Montgomery County, TN, and her lovely and loyal dog, Cody.

“She’s the only dog I’ve ever had in my life and she’s a really good dog,” Alliyah McKay told local News Channel 5. “She would follow me everywhere and she would protect me and stuff like if I went outside she will follow me too.

Last week, however, Cody got herself stuck in a culvert while out carousing without her human best friend.

“When I first looked for her I was walking around and I was like, ‘Cody, Cody,’ and finally I heard her whimpering,” said Micki Fielder, the little girl’s grandmother.

After a brief search, Fielder discovered the 15-year-old pup trapped in a nearby drainage culvert.

“First, I really didn’t think it was a problem until I realize she was in there and it was really hard to pull out I started freaking out and I started crying a lot,” said McKay.

They decided to call the professionals in for help, dialing 9-1-1.

“The good Sheriff’s Deputies of Montgomery county came out and they worked and they worked,” said Fielder.

“We did the best we could just wear their hands and they had some Tupperware containers we used for scooping the dirt out,” said Brian Lynch, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy.

Cody endured about a half hour or so of confinement before the rescue team got her free.

“With the limited tools we had and what they had it was difficult and it seem like it was going to take a lot longer than it did but we were able to get the dog out,” said Denis Bowles, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy.

Little Aaliyah is now thankful beyond measure to have her best friend back.

“You guys did a really good job,” McKay told the police officers. “It was hard work, too.”

And thankfully, it won’t happen to Cody, or any other dog, again. Someone has since come by and placed large boulders in the drain to prevent this from happening in the future.