Robotic vacuum sucks up the tail of a napping dog, Missouri police say

An unsuspecting dog had its tail sucked up by a robotic vacuum Friday, and the scary situation required a police response, cops say.

The Shih Tzu was napping in the Ballwin, Missouri, family’s home when the vacuum snared its tail, according to a news release. Its owner couldn’t free the dog, so police went to the home to help.

When officers arrived, they could hear the screams of a mother and newborn baby — and the yelping of the dog, according to a Facebook post.

The officers were able to free the dog from the vacuum, police said. The robotic vacuum sucked up the dog’s tail while it was “taking a respite,” police said.

Police told McClatchy news group that the robotic vacuum was not a Roomba, a popular brand of the product created by iRobot.

A spokesman for the company told McClatchy that its Roomba products include safety features to prevent these types of accidents.

“Roomba robot vacuums feature a number of safety mechanisms to prevent accidents from happening,” the spokesman wrote in an email. “Such as cliff detect sensors so the robot will not go off of stairs, wheel drop sensors so the robot will stop if it is picked up, and anti-tangle technology in which the Roomba robot vacuum will reverse its rollers if it ingests items like rug tassels, electrical cords and… god forbid… dog tails.”