It’s a dog perched on top the roof of a North Providence residence.
“We got a call to assist police this morning, and when we got there and looked up, there was a dog on the roof,” Capt. Jay Petrillo of the North Providence Fire Department told NBC 10 News during a brief phone interview Friday.
“It was an interesting call and it was interesting to see,” he added.
Petrillo said the dog, Rocco, appeared frightened but didn’t seem hurt.
Animal Control officers were on hand, with the dog’s owner also eventually arriving at the scene. He was working at the time, but neighbors called to alert him.
“He thought they were kidding,” Petrillo said. “But a neighbor told him, ‘The police department is here, the fire department is here, and your dog is actually on your roof.’ He came home within 10 minutes.”
Petrillo said authorities were grateful that Rocco remained still while he was on the roof, as it lowered his risk of falling.
“He just stood there barking until the owner came,” he said
Authorities set up an aerial device to keep Rocco safe in case he fell, while they assisted the owner up the ladder truck and then back down with the dog.
“We didn’t want to scare him into slipping or jumping, so we knew he would be calm if the owner was there,” he said.
So, how’d Rocco get up there?
Petrillo said he believes the dog wandered onto the roof through an open window. The dog was likely distracted by an animal.
“Our guess is he must have saw a squirrel or something and scrambled his way up and out,” Petrillo said. “That’s the only way we could figure out how he did it. There was an open window near a tree, so he must have chased something up there and then realized there was no way he could make it down.”
Petrillo added that the owner immediately closed the open window and thanked authorities.
But he said they were happy to help, noting that Rocco was unharmed.
“He was a very friendly dog,” Petrillo said. “He was full of energy.”
