Members of the Racine Fire Department recently assisted in the rescue of a dog from a storm drain. | City of Racine Fire Department/Facebook
Members of the Racine Fire Department recently assisted in the rescue of a dog from a storm drain. | City of Racine Fire Department/Facebook
Racine residents from all over came together for a common cause on July 4 after a dog was found trapped in a storm drain.
"I've helped DPW with ducklings in a sewer before but this was quite different," Kristin Wilson, executive director of Billy's Posse, a nonprofit that focuses on lost dogs, told CBS58.com. "This was a dog we knew had been running around for about five months in the park, here."
Residents in the area of Lincoln Park first learned of the dog’s distress from the sounds the mixed-breed female was making on July 2. Known as Blackie, the dog had been living around the park for months and is thought to have been stuck in the drain for several days.
The dog was apparently able to crawl into the storm drain through an entrance at nearby Lincoln Park.
On Monday, Wilson put out a post on Facebook calling for volunteers to help rescue the dog before storms began that evening, drawing the interest of many, including a captain from Southern Waukesha County Canine Search and Rescue, the Racine Fire Department and members of Billy’s Posse.
The crew was eventually able to pull the dog out of the storm drain.
Danny Fucile, Southern Waukesha County Canine Search and Rescue captain, was among those who answered the call for assistance.
“Being on a K9 search and rescue team, 'Man's Best Friend' hits home,” he told CBS 58. “Finding that dog and making sure that it was out was our goal, and there was no way we were going to go home without doing that.”
Fucile and others were able to remove the drain cover and begin their efforts to try and get the dog to allow them to tie it up and carry it out. Members of the Racine Fire Department were flagged down to assist in the effort, and they sprayed water from a nearby drain that forced the dog toward the rescuers.
When all was said and done, Blackie was unharmed from the ordeal, ultimately sedated and taken by on-scene veterinarians to the Wisconsin Humane Society where she is now recovering.
Renamed Midnight, the dog will be available for adoption if she goes through the stray hold period and her possible owner is not found.
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