It took a community effort to rescue a dog trapped in a culvert north of Hillsboro on Saturday (July 30), says Brian Gaudet, assistant chief for the Hillsboro Fire Protection District.
Bailey, a pit bull, had the good fortune of, first, another dog noticing her and, second, firefighters from two districts and community volunteers working together for several hours to get her out of the culvert.
At 5:30 p.m., the Hillsboro Fire Protection District got a call about the dog’s perilous situation, Gaudet said.
The dog was stuck in a culvert in the 4000 block of Hickory Drive, off Goldman Road.
“(The caller) had been outside with her dog and they have a culvert pipe that runs under the driveway at her home,” Gaudet said. “Her dog immediately ran to one end of the culvert and started barking and she noticed the dog stuck in it. She called the non-emergency line and asked if we’d come out.”
Hillsboro firefighters quickly arrived, but found Bailey in a tough spot. They called for assistance from the neighboring Goldman Fire Protection District and soon a number of neighbors arrived offering help. Jefferson County Animal Control was contacted and joined the effort, Gaudet said.
“Our crew got there and could see the dog from behind, but couldn’t see her from the other side of the culvert,” Gaudet said. “They dug a hole on one side of the pipe. They cut the top of the pipe off and could see the dog stuck in the pipe. We spent the next three hours or so throwing out ideas and trying to get the dog out.”
After all the trial and error, the rescuers eventually extricated Bailey.
“We finally were able to pass a rope through the pipe and get the dog to turn,” Gaudet said. “We attached a rope to a snare and got a hold of the dog’s leg. From that point, we were able to pull the dog out of the pipe.”
A crowd of around 25 had gathered by the time the dog came out of the culvert, he said.
“When the dog was pulled out, everybody clapped and cheered,” Gaudet said.
Bailey was none the worse for wear, he said.
“She appeared to be uninjured,” Gaudet said. “She was perfectly happy with being out of the pipe. A Goldman firefighter, Marvin Boehme, transported her to the Jefferson County Animal Control vehicle and he said she licked him all the way there.”
The next day, Bailey’s owners contacted Animal Control to retrieve her, Gaudet said.
“After we posted the story on our website, the owners contacted Animal Control by 1 p.m. Sunday,” he said. “That’s how we learned her name was Bailey.”
He said the owner told Animal Control that Bailey had been missing six weeks.