A dog on a leash was nearly strangled after it became caught in the closed doors of a moving lift while following its elderly owner.

The incident was captured on CCTV camera inside the lift of a block of flats in Nanjing, in Jiangsu province, China.

Surveillance footage shows two elderly people carrying paper bags strolling into the lift shortly before noon on Sunday, March 10.

They were joined by a pet poodle who seemed reluctant to enter the small space.

Its owner tried to pull it inside but did not notice their companion pressing the lift button.

In just seconds, the doors closed, trapping the pup'sleash when it still had not made it inside.

Its owner kept holding onto its leash that dragged the dog upwards as the lift travelled down, unsure of what to do.

The otherperson was a bit quicker to notice the poodle was about to choke and began hitting the'stop' button.

Meanwhile, security staff saw what was happening on real-time surveillance footage and immediately rushed to investigate.

According to security, when they arrived, they found the dog's leash had already broken.

It was fortunate enough to escape unharmed and returned to its owner.