A German shepherd trapped in a flood channel for at least a week is now recovering at a County animal shelter after being rescued by Animal Control officers.
A concerned citizen called the Department of Animal Services (DAS) Saturday saying the dog was stuck in a flood channel in the Rolando area of San Diego and was so skittish, it would not come close to anyone.
The caller was feeding the dog but reported the animal was getting thinner and weaker every day. DAS officers checked out the situation and within an hour, returned with a large, humane dog trap. It was set in the only dry spot in the channel and officers began making regular checks to see if the dog had been captured.
Sunday, an officer found the pooch inside. That was challenge number one. Number two? How to safely remove both the dog and the trap from the channel. Vertical walls eight feet high bordered each side and the bottom was coated in slippery green algae and a couple of inches of running water.
Rather than use ropes to try to lift out a scared dog, ingenuity and physics came into play. The trap, with the dog still safely secured inside, was fastened onto a ladder that had been lowered into the canal. With one rope tied to the dog trap and a second rope securing the dog trap to the ladder, two officers in the channel lifted the cargo while three officers at the top pulled the ladder up and out of the channel.
Thanks to their hard work, the 3-year-old male German shepherd is now safe and dry at the County shelter on Gaines Street. No word on how the dog got into the flood channel but veterinary staff will check him out to make sure he’s OK. He wasn’t microchipped, and he didn’t have a license or ID tag, so once he recuperates, he’ll be available for adoption.
