Four Hemstitch Blocks

On a winter day in 2012 in the village of South Heindley, West Yorkshire, an emergency operator answered a call and heard gasping on the other end. Police were alerted and they entered the home of the caller with the help of a neighbor with a spare key. Inside they found George, a two-year-old basset hound in terrible trouble. George had accidentally knocked over his owner’s old-fashioned telephone; the heavy-as-a-brick kind with a spiral handset cord. The dog had become entangled in the cord and was slowly strangling himself. As he struggled to get free, George had inadvertently dialed 999, the number in England for emergency services. I almost wrote “the British equivalent of 911,” but since England's emergency number came first, 911 is actually the American version of 999. Anyway, George was quickly rescued. He’s probably the only animal who has ever placed a phone call to save his own life.