Puppy rescued from drain in Brenthurst
Two volunteers heroically headed down the manhole to retrieve the puppy.
Concerned community members rallied to the cries of a puppy that was stuck in a drain on Monday evening.
The cross-Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy was heard in the drain, situated along Boundary Road, in Brenthurst, from around 5pm that afternoon.
Brakpan resident Shawn Hefer told the Herald that upon arrival at the scene just after 7pm, he found a fire truck, response vehicle, numerous Brakpan Radio Group vehicles and about 40 or more group members and other community members gathered at the site.
The Brakpan SPCA was also on the scene.
“Brainstorming a workable plan of action proved quite difficult, as the drain pipe was around five or six metres beneath the manhole.
“The poor exhausted and petrified animal could be heard from both ends of the pipe, at both manholes which are more than 30m apart.”
According to Hefer, various tricks were used to lure the pup towards rescuers but the little animal was so scared it just kept moving away.
Two volunteers, police officer Const Leon Pretorius, who is a recent SAPS graduate, and a man identified only as Barend, heroically headed down the manhole to retrieve the puppy.
Pretorius crawled into the drain pipe as far as he could and the Fire Department then sprayed a stream of water from the opposite side.
At about 10pm, the rescuers and the filthy puppy emerged from the manhole, and joy and excitement erupted from the crowd.
MORE PHOTOS HERE: Residents rescue puppy from drain
The puppy was cold and exhausted.
“I gave her a quick once-over to check for any visible injuries, and upon finding none, raising the pup’s body temperature took priority,” said Hefer.
“She was warmed as best we could and given a wet-wipe bath to clean her up.
“When offered food later, she greedily wolfed it down.
“She appears 100 per cent healthy, is eating very well, but remains extremely skittish.
“She most certainly was not a tame dog, and although her trust is slowly building, she still cowers at loud voices and fast movements.
“A further mention of thanks to Tamaryn Lombard (Brakpan SPCA inspector), who got the Fire Department to respond, and also to the SPCA’s response man, Rodney Mahlangu, who monitored the entire incident.”
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