OK, so it is possible to be slightly skeeved out, by a basically heartwarming, happy-ending kinda story.
Case in point: Daniel Blair, a 4-year-old in North London, and his twin Nicky decided to bathe one of the family's week-old puppies in a bit of smother love common to kids and dogs. Unfortunately, kids chose to give the cocker spaniel pup a post-walk scrub in the loo (that's the toilet over here in America).
Not the worst thing in the world - until Daniel flushed the little critter. And here's where panic ensued.
Mother Alison called the fire department, to no avail. And the fire brigade rang the local sewer folks, Dyno-Rod, to try to get the poor little poop, err, pup, unjammed from the pipe where it had become lodged about 20 yards down the drain, wet and disgusting, but still alive.
With a little ingenuity, some microfiber camera technology and some gentle pushing, the pup, now named Dyno for his heroic saviors, was nudged fare enough for a firefighter to grab at a manhole. And this time Dyno really did need a bath.
"I never thought a dog could survive being flushed down the loo. He's a real little fighter," mother Alison told the Daily Mirror.
That he is.
And you thought only alligators were flushed down city drains.
Wow, how did the puppy survive the U-bend? And that poo must be wreaking havoc on his body considering the underdeveloped immune system. Amazing story. Glad it ended well.