VIDEO: New Philadelphia firefighters rescue puppy from storm sewer
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Aug. 15, 2022) – Firefighters say all turned out well after rescuing a puppy that had ventured into a storm sewer drainpipe.
Fire Captain Bert Snyder says a resident came into the station around 10:30 a.m. Sunday to say his 15-week-old German Shepherd got out of the backyard and ran into the storm sewer.
He says they went searching near Walton’s Auto and Glass in the 300 block of South Broadway where they could hear the puppy, but couldn’t see it.
“We’re not sure where it went down the storm drain, but it was pretty far down the line,” said Snyder.
Snyder says firefighters ended up retrieving saws to cut the sewer grate.
“We had to use some of our other tools to block off the other end of the storm drain so he didn’t run back further and get lost into the drainage system,” Snyder said.
Snyder says the dog eventually headed in their direction after calling for it and was reunited with the owner within 20 minutes. He says it’s all in a day’s work.
“We do a little bit of everything.” “When we are not running other calls and we have something like this and we’re free that we can help, we’re glad to do that,” he added.
The owner just got the dog two days before this incident. Snyder says the puppy was unharmed, just slightly dirty from the storm drain.