This was the moment firefighters rescued seven cats and two dogs from a burning house yesterday evening (November 19) at 7 pm in Samut Prakan, Thailand, while the owner was visiting a nearby market.

Somat Sakoolcharoen, 40, returned home with his wife, Mai, to find flames had broken out in the two-storey townhouse. He then ran to neighbours for help after noticing the smoke pouring from the building - knowing that his beloved rescue dogs were still inside.

Emergency services arrived and extinguished the flames while staff and brave neighbours rushed inside to salvage the pets. Miraculously, they all emerged unscathed - with only smoke-stained fur.

Somat said: ''I returned home to find there was a lot of smoke pouring from the house so I called out to neighbours for help. I knew it was so important to save the lives of all the cats and dogs.

''They have all been rescued from the street after they were homeless or injured. If they were sick, we cured them and cared for them.''

Fire crews discovered that the blaze had been caused by a short circuit in an electric fan which had been left running. It took them 30 minutes to control the inferno.

Somat added: ''I want to thank the courageous work of the fire brigade. The controlled the situation quickly and without them, none of the cats or dogs would have survived.''