Costa Mesa firefighters used a sledgehammer and chisel to rescue a small dog that got its leg stuck in a bathtub drain Tuesday afternoon.

The dog’s owners were trying to bathe it in their 18th Street apartment when they were unable to free its paw, Capt. Nick Cerciello said.

When emergency crews arrived around 12:45 p.m. they too were stumped at first.

“The dog would bark and bite very time we tried to move it just from pain,” Cerciello said.

Firefighters had to carefully break open the drain to get the animal out.

After about half an hour, to the cheers of the family’s kids, a firefighter lifted their freed pet, Cerciello said.

The curly haired canine apparently was fine after the ordeal, and bolted downstairs away from the commotion.

“Didn’t have a limp or anything,” said Cerciello, who advised the family to have the dog checked just in case.

— Jeremiah Dobruck

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck