The domestic helper sustained hand injuries while trying to save the dog. (Representational Pic)
A dog on a leash was strangled at an apartment complex in Hong Kong after it ran out of an elevator just before the doors closed. According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), the incident took place on Tuesday. The dog was among three other canines taken by a domestic helper for a walk in Kennedy Town in Western district. This is the second such incident in the city in three months, the outlet further said.
The police said that the helper was waiting for the elevator on the ground floor with the pets at approximately 9:47 am.
"As the lift doors opened, she brought the dogs inside. When the doors were closing, one of the dogs suddenly ran out," SCMP quoted the police as saying.
Tragically, the leash was caught between the closing doors of the 23-storey building, resulting in the dog being pulled upwards. The security guard at the building alerted the police about the incident.
The domestic helper sustained hand injuries while trying to save the dog and was sent to hospital. An investigation into the incident did not uncover any suspicious circumstances about the animal's death.
SCMP said that in June, a schnauzer - a medium-sized dog of a German breed - on a leash narrowly escaped a similar fate.
Its owner entered an elevator, leaving the pet outside on the ground-floor lobby of Boundary Building on Tung Chau Street in Sham Shui Po. Security footage captured the schnauzer being dragged upwards and struggling in the air, but a quick-thinking security guard intervened and stopped the elevator, preventing further harm.