Benny, wheaten terrier

Firefighters, animal control rescue missing dog
Dog rescued safe and sound from backyard hole
Published Friday, February 21, 2014

A small dog missing since Tuesday found himself in a tight situation Friday afternoon.

Firefighters were called to a house on Spears Street, in the St Clair Avenue and Weston Road area, to rescue a dog stuck 12 to 15 feet underground in what is believed to be an old septic tank or abandoned well.

Firefighters work to try and free a dog that fell into an abandoned septic tank in the Weston Road and Humber Boulevard North area.

Neighbours told CP24 they heard Benny, a four-year-old Wheaten Terrier, crying underneath a swimming pool.

Benny the dog with his owner Audrey immediately after being rescued from a 12 to 15 feet deep hole. (Photo courtesy of Toronto Fire Capt. Mike Strapko)

The home owner says that during a July storm, cement from the opening to the tank or well washed away.

Toronto Fire Capt. Brian Scriver said the rescue was made more difficult because of how long the dog had been down there.

“I think Benny was tired,” he told CP24 at the scene. “He had been missing since Tuesday.”

“We lowered a GoPro camera on one of our poles and we could see he was kind of relaxing in the corner out of our reach. I think he was just pooped out and didn’t want to make an appearance.”

After a few hours, and several attempts, animal control was finally able to lure Benny out in the open with food and pull him up using a rope.

Officials are unsure what kind of space Benny was stuck in.

“It looks like it may have been an old well, or an old septic tank perhaps. I’m thinking an old well,” Scriver said.

“It looks like someone had sealed it up years ago. But perhaps with the winter we had this year, erosion and the freezing has probably reopened this hole.”

The owner rushed the dog to the vet where he is expected to make a full recovery.

Source: http://www.cp24.com/news/firefighters-animal-control-rescue-missing-dog-1.1698134
Another version of the story available at http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/02/21/dog_reunited_with_owner_after_being_rescued_from_well.html