HUNTINGTON BEACH POLICE officer holds the dog that officers rescued from a backyard pool (HBPD photo).

Firemen are famous for getting cats out of trees. Now the Huntington Beach Police Department is getting dogs out of swimming pools. On Tuesday around 9 a.m. a neighbor in the 1700 block of Shipley Street called the HBPD regarding the sound of “an animal in distress.”

Arriving officers found no people home, but when they went into the backyard, they found a puppy who had fallen into the pool and was holding on to the wall, unable to get out.

The officers pulled the puppy from the water and told the homeowner what had happened.

Pool-owners are reminded that children and puppies are not safe when a pool is not secured by a fence or sturdy pool cover. Police caution against leaving a child or a dog unsupervised around a pool to avoid a tragedy.