Barking alerts jogger to dog stuck in storm drain. Now he’s up for adoption
Sarah Harwich runs the same route every morning in her Richmond, Virginia, neighborhood.
On Valentine’s Day, she was running along her normal path when she heard barking coming from a storm drain.
In a Facebook comment, she said it was “the first time I’d ever heard a dog barking from a sewer drain,” and she thought the dog must be stuck, so she called the fire department.
When firefighters arrived, they found a 40-pound pit bull terrier mix stuck in the back of the storm drain, lying on his back in mud and water, and only his head was held above the water, according to a Feb. 22 Richmond Fire Department Facebook post.
The fire department said a firefighter headed down into the drain, about 6 to 8 feet below, and stood on a piece of metal jutting out from the concrete.
Using a rope slipped over the dog’s neck, firefighters pulled from above while the firefighter in the drain lifted up from the bottom and the dog was safely brought back up to the surface.
“The entire call lasted less than 10 minutes for us,” the fire department said.
After being rescued, the dog was wrapped up and taken in by Richmond Animal Care and Control, which named him Michelangelo.
“They said you would have never known he was stuck in a storm drain,” the fire department said.
Now, Michelangelo is on to the next challenge: finding a home.
Richmond Animal Care and Control says Michelangelo is approximately 2 years old and is ready for adoption. He would be best suited for a house without other dogs or cats.
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Barking alerts jogger to dog stuck in storm drain. Now he’s up for adoption."
