'It's going to die': California officer spends day off rescuing puppy trapped down well

A central California police officer spent his day off rescuing a puppy that fell into a sewage drain and got bogged down in mud.

The rescue was in Huron, about 40 miles southwest of Fresno, and the pup is expected to make a full recovery, the city’s police department announced last week.

Someone called police around 10 a.m. on Sept. 22 and said they heard a child or a puppy whose cries were coming from the bottom of the sewer, Cmdr. Tony Fuentes told USA TODAY on Thursday.

Two officers arrived to check out the scene, and they soon then called the public works and fire departments to help see what was inside the 10-foot well, Fuentes said

“They could see that there was a puppy playing with a little purple ball," Fuentes said. But the puppy was stuck in the mud."

A sticky rescue

Fuentes said he was off that day, but the city manager called him to ask for help since he was next in charge.

The team had previously tried using a catch pole but the angle made it difficult to use, so Fuentes went to the hardware store to pick up some items and make a “contraption” of his own. He bought a telescope pole and a swimming pool skimmer.

But "it wasn't strong enough to grab the actual puppy,” he said. “I couldn't drag it back out.”

The rescue team even considered draining the mud out but there was too much debris and swamp-like area, Fuentes said. Still, they kept at it.

“I needed to get it out,” he said. “I figured it's going to die. It's crying."

The winning strategy ended up consisting of a catch pole or animal control bar. The team took the catch pole, wrapped it around a nearby concrete pillar and made it into an L shape. Fuentes was then able to use the pole to fish the puppy out of the drain. 

They finally rescued the pup by 4:30 that afternoon, more than six hours after the call came in.

Pup’s siblings had been abandoned in the area

Fuentes said the pup was taken to the Huron Animal Shelter, where he was washed up, fed and sent to a rescue center.

Two days later, someone found that one of his siblings had been thrown into a garbage can, Fuentes said. Their mother, Fuentes said, is a stray dog officials have been trying to capture so they can get her fixed.

There are lots of strays in Huron, he said. People often dump dogs in an open field there.

“It's different breeds,” said Fuentes, who has two dogs of his own named Rosie and Koda. “We get Huskies, Frenchies, German Shepherds, different breeds of dogs that just get dumped into our city for whatever reason.”

It happens so often that the city is hosting a free adoption event soon. It’ll run from 1 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 26 in Keenan Park, he said, and anyone who wants to donate to the shelter can do so.

“We're not charging any fees because our dog kennels are full right now,” Fuentes said. “We're at full capacity and no one is adopting our dogs, and that's the reason why we have these situations.”

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her atsdmartin@usatoday.com.