Parents of a young boy drowned inside a cess pit filled with raw sewage as they desperately tried to rescue their pet dog when it fell in.

Valery and Julia Chumak were both overcome by toxic fumes as they tried to pull the pup from the pit in their garden in Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Oblas, Ukraine.

Julia, 34, fell in first and husband Valery, 38, was overcome by fumes when he went to rescue her.

The dog, which was a pedigree Cane Corso Italian hunting dog, also died.

Neighbours told police how they heard screams and tried to help, but the door to the garden was locked.

It was only eventually opened by the couple’s young son.

One neighbour told local media: “We came in and saw them. Rescuers, police and ambulance were called.

“They tried to resuscitate them, but they said that it was already too late. The liquid got into their lungs.”

Kirovohrad region police spokeswoman Vitalina Bevzenko said the deaths had been recorded as accidental.

She explained: “According to the fact, criminal proceedings have been initiated under Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with the note ‘Accident’.’

On Julia Chumak’s social media page, friends left their condolences to her son and other relatives of the victims.

Family friend Natalay said Julia was loved dancing, photography and practiced psychology.

She said: “She had three things that she loved in life. Her son, but she also loved to travel with her husband, and when an opportunity arose, they would get up and go anywhere.

“And the third thing she loved was her dog.”

She added: “She was someone that loved life very much and often others to live now. Losing her is such unspeakable grief.”

Local media also carry warnings to locals reminding them that pit latrines and cesspools can produce lethal gases and vapors.