Distribution system crewmen with Springdale (Arkansas) Water Utilities came to the rescue of a puppy that fell into a sewer drainage pipe on Oct. 21.

The Chihuahua was playing in the yard outside its Springdale home when it fell into an uncapped 4-inch clean-out, says Springdale Water Utilities Executive Director Heath Ward.

“He fell in the hole under the chair,” the puppy’s owner told KHBS/KHOG-TV. “We didn’t know there was a hole, and she went to catch him and he was gone.”

The dog’s owners tried for four hours to get the pup out on their own before CCTV operator Jim Marsh arrived on the scene, along with assistant Kyle Anderson. Video inspection showed the visibly shaken Chihuahua in an 8-inch section of the pipe.

“We used the camera to herd the dog upstream where we grabbed it,” Ward says. “We had a camera crew, a digging crew with a backhoe — if needed — and a sewer repair crew with a supervisor on site.

“We retrieved (the dog) from the main. Crew supervisor Scot McGuire and crewmembers Brad Downum and Jason Fears were the main rescuers, although we had nine people there.”

The Chihuahua was OK after it was reunited with its owners and just needed a bath, reports KHBS/KHOG-TV.

Source: KHBS/KHOG-TV