A pet owner thought her dog was right behind her as she got into her building’s elevator to walk her precious Pomeranian. The dog lagged a bit behind, however. As the elevator doors closed, the owner began to scream as she realized her dog was left behind.

Luckily, her neighbor who had stepped out of the elevator as she stepped in heard her screams. Johnny Mathis is being praised as a hero for doubling back quickly and unclipping the small dog’s leash before it was strangled by the moving elevator.

“The whole time this is all happening, the girl is inside screaming,” Johnny told Inside Edition. “As soon as those doors shut, she was screaming, and I could hear it the whole time. It was actually really scary. I mean, it was scary for me and I’m sure scary for her.”

“It was a crazy situation, and I can’t believe I reacted the way I did and got it off as quick as I did,” Johnny added. “It could have been a lot worse.”

The scary situation is more common than you think, with security cameras catching both owners and strangers frantically working to save animals whose leashes get caught in the elevator.

“I’m just glad I got the leash off in time and that the dog’s OK,” Johnny said. While the owner was shaken up, everyone will be fine. It’s a lesson to make sure your dogs follow you carefully into elevators and through automatic doors.

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