PETALING JAYA: Firefighting is not always about kicking down solid doors to rescue people trapped in their homes.
Soft skills are important too, as evident from a recent video of a fireman attempting to “sweet talk” a dog that had got itself in a corner on a ledge, and was refusing to budge.
The fireman, after ensuring his own safety by attaching a safety harness to himself before climbing out of a window onto the ledge, can be seen trying to persuade the dog, which appears to be sulking by refusing to move.
In the 37-second video shared by Fire and Rescue Services Department Malaysia on its Facebook page, the dog remains aloof despite the rescuer’s attempt at getting its attention, leaving netizens tickled.
Facebook user Sazarina Hamzah said the dog must be a female.
And they call it puppy love: A screencap of the video showing the dog shying away from a fireman trying to rescue it from a ledge.
“If you give her a bouquet of roses, she might be ‘moved’ by the fireman,” she said of the post that has garnered close to 4,000 comments.
On its part, the department posted the video showing four of the fireman’s colleagues watching his “rescue” attempt from the video, with the caption, “It ain’t easy persuading this one, gotta offer some sweet talk ...” (Bukan senang nak pujuk nie ... Abg Bomba juga la kena bagi ayat manis).
Many netizens also took the opportunity to express their respect and gratitude to the firemen, whose latest “high-profile” job included recovering bodies from the Batang Kali landslide in Selangor.
The Penang Fire and Rescue Department director Saadon Mokhtar said the incident took place at about 3pm on Wednesday in Teluk Kumbar, Balik Pulau.
“We received a call that a stray dog was stuck on the seventh floor of an apartment along Jalan Teluk Kumbar.
“They managed to catch the dog and bring it to safety.
“It was then released in a different area as a precautionary measure,” he said, adding that they were perplexed as to how the dog managed to go over such a high wall and end up being stuck there.
“We are unsure and cannot comment as to how it happened but we managed to rescue the dog,” he said, adding that they were also unable to determine the sex of the dog.
