Animal Rescue Story from My Very Own Hometown!

I discovered this story today in my local newspaper. I CAN'T believe that I hadn't heard about it before. Luckily, there was a happy ending. The animal control officer, Michael Gregory is a great guy. He works really closely with our shelter. He even had a booth at Celebration Pet Day. Enjoy! I hope that everyone is having a great afternoon!:

Puppies saved in Rover

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 By CLINT CONFEHR

Two puppies that fell in a well last weekend in the Rover Community were rescued about mid-day Saturday thanks to teamwork and technology. "Everybody pitched in and helped," Bedford County Sheriff's Deputy James "Scooter" Bonner said. "We were lucky to get any of them out. One died, we believe, when it hit, and the others fell on it."

Three mixed-breed puppies fell in. Two were rescued.

The third puppy remains in the well pipe that's not been used for years at Tonya Bowden's 146 Blanton Road home where, she said, her grandson, Shane came to her crying because he and his friend, Michael Brannon, heard puppies whining in the well.

Bowden telephoned for help. Michael Gregory of Bedford County Animal Control responded, but knew he'd need help, so he appealed to Scott Johnson, director of Bedford County's Emergency Management Agency. Its Technical Rescue Team has an underwater camera. Soon, rescuers could see the puppies.

"If we didn't have the camera, we wouldn't be able to do what we needed to do," Gregory said.

A lobster snare "trap" was lowered into the pipe attached to white plastic pipes or poles taped together, according to Gregory and Bowden. That way, puppies were grabbed and withdrawn from the well.

Estimates vary, but the puppies were apparently 25-30 feet down the well's pipe. Bowden said the well is about 125 feet deep.

Bowden's grandson and his friend had uncovered the pipe, she said. It had been covered with a bucket weighed down with a chair. A permanent cap for the pipe was reportedly being placed.

The puppies are about four weeks old, Bowden said. Their eyes have been open for about a week.

Bowden listed the people who came to rescue her pups: Johnson of Emergency Management, Gregory and Isaac Meerdink of animal control, Deputies Bonner and Lindsey J. Puckett, and officials from Emergency Medical Services included Bryan Bruce, Richard Crick, Kathy Reeves and Mike Clements.