999 alert after dog accidentally makes emergency call

A 999 operator worriedly returned a call from a suspected domestic violence victim only to discover that the caller was a dog that had stolen its owner's phone.

Officers traced the call, in which a man was heard screaming "Come out or else, I'm warning you", to Jodie Halfpenny's house in Withington, Herefordshire.

The operator, from West Mercia Police, immediately returned the call thinking that the caller might have been attacked after a muffled whine was heard before the line went dead.

But Miss Halfpenny, 20, answered and revealed that the call had been made by mistake – by her 14 month-old golden retriever Bailey.

Bailey had made the call inadvertently after making off with the phone and repeatedly biting down on the number 9 digit.

The muffled voices were Jodie and a male friend, who chased the dog behind their garden shed before wrestling the phone from Bailey's jaws at 4.30pm on Monday.

A West Mercia Police spokesman said: "We received a call from in which the operator became concerned after muffled shouts and screams were heard on the line.

"An operator phoned the number back hesitantly, only to be greeted by a very apologetic woman who confirmed that all was well and that the culprit was not her husband – but the dog.

"After discussing the situation at length, we were satisfied the call was made by the dog and there was no danger."

He added: "You just couldn't make something like this up."

credited to telegraph.co.uk