Dog rescued from drain

A curious Labrador stuck in a storm water drain for almost three hours has been rescued by firefighters in Melbourne, Australia. Three-year-old Bronson was on his daily walk at an off-leash park at Mernda on Friday afternoon when he decided to embark on an underground adventure.



His owner Merrilyn Thorpe said: "I just saw him there barking and I kept whistling. He's a trained dog to come to the whistle, and I knew he was trapped because he always comes to the whistle." It wasn't easy to convince the curious canine to come out. He ventured further into the drain, and became stuck 20 metres underground.

A specialist rescue team was called in to help. More than 20 Country Fire Authority and Metropolitan Fire Brigade members used ropes to lift Bronson to safety. Operations officer Steve Pitcher saying it took almost three hours to bring a muddy but happy Bronson to the surface. Mr Pitcher said the rescue was a team effort between Mernda, Doreen and Dandenong CFA members with support from the MFB.


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He said a Dandenong firefighter used a skateboard - which a boy kindly handed over - to push himself into the half-metre diameter drain. “It was a confined space rescue using rope lines and atmospheric monitoring equipment,” Mr Pitcher said. “(The firefighter) retrieved the dog and was pulled back up by the ropes.” Bronson didn’t suffer any injuries but was taken to the vets as a precaution.