Neighbors heard whimpering coming from pipes. Then Georgia rescuers sprang into action
Two scared puppies were pulled from an underground storm pipe in a “complicated and dangerous” rescue, Georgia fire officials said.
Neighbors heard the sounds of dogs crying after the two puppies were swept into the storm drain during recent rains, Paulding County Fire & Rescue said in a Sept. 13 news release.
“They’re very cute puppies,” Steve Mapes, a spokesperson for Paulding County Fire, told McClatchy News in a phone interview. “They were extremely scared, but they’re in good shape and they’re not hurt.”
The puppies were trapped in a 2-foot-wide drainage pipe 20 feet underground and 60 feet from the nearest manhole, according to the release. Cobb County Fire & Emergency Services brought equipment to assist in the rescue, a Cobb County spokesperson told McClatchy News.
Specialists who were experienced with confined spaces were on-site to work on the operation, which lasted over an hour, fire officials said in the release.
The rescue took place within the fence of a private home, Mapes told McClatchy News. The puppies are no longer in the care of their previous owners and have been placed with a foster family, Mapes said.
Videos posted on Facebook show rescuers pulling the puppies out of the ground. The two Rottweiler puppies were so small they could each fit in a hand. Rescuers handed the puppies over to a Paulding County Animal Control worker, who checked the puppies out to make sure they were healthy.
The puppies squirmed and squealed gently as they were handled, but they were OK, Mapes said.
The “two puppies are lucky to be alive,” Paulding Fire officials said in the release.
“It was a very dangerous thing for rescuers to do,” Mapes said, adding that no firefighters or puppies were injured.
McClatchy News could not immediately reach Paulding County Animal Control.
Paulding County is northwest of downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Neighbors heard whimpering coming from pipes. Then Georgia rescuers sprang into action."