Firefighters Make Dogged Attempt to Free Canine

FILLMORE —  Every dog has his day but for one lucky canine near this rural farm town that day ended happily after a two-hour heavy rescue operation to free him from an underground drainage pipe.

Trapped in an irrigation pipe that runs under a lemon orchard along Sycamore Road, the 75-pound Labrador/shepherd mix was heard whimpering by a neighbor out walking his own dog early Tuesday morning.

The man’s dog ran up to a narrow above-ground outlet for the irrigation system and began to bark down at the unseen canine.

The neighbor called animal-control officers who were unable to reach the dog beneath them and summoned Ventura County firefighters, who promptly determined that liberation would be no easy task.

To get at the dog, firefighters used picks and shovels to dig down about 3 feet to the drainage pipe. The city of Fillmore eventually sent out a backhoe to help with the task.

Once workers reached the pipe and cleared out enough elbow room, firefighters used special saws to cut away a portion of the concrete pipe and pull the dog to safety about 5 p.m.

The dog, whose name or owner were not known Tuesday evening, was tired but happy to be free, said Capt. Scott Zeller with the Ventura County Fire Department.

“He was very happy and very relieved and he quickly became very friendly,” he said. “And I know all of us were happy. We were glad to actually see he was OK.”

It was not known how the dog got trapped in the first place but rescue personnel surmise that he may have chased a smaller animal into the pipe and got stuck.

In all, nearly 20 people assisted in the rescue including 10 county firefighters. The dog, which appeared healthy and well cared for but did not have any identifying tags, was taken to the county’s animal shelter near the Camarillo Airport.

If he is not claimed within six days he will be put up for adoption, Zeller said.

“It was a good day’s work,” he said. “It was very labor-intensive, very hard work, but in the end a very good reward.”