A man was at his home in Longview, Texas, when he heard a distant barking and whining sound. He couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from, and figured it was a neighbor’s dog.
After a few days of hearing the faint but consistent woofs and whimpers, he suddenly looked down and decided to put his ear to the floor of his home.
“He realized it wasn’t coming from outside; it was actually coming from below,” said Jenna George, executive director for Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center.
The man, whom authorities did not identify, called animal control on Feb. 24, prompting animal control officer Bobby Jumper to investigate. At the home, Jumper noticed an opening at the side of the structure leading underground.
“I could hear it, but I couldn’t see the dog,” Jumper said.
He crawled under the house – an aboveground duplex – and searched with his flashlight. He followed the sound of the barks, which led him to an empty old water well. When he looked inside, there was a terrified-looking dog trapped at the bottom.
The man, a renter, said he didn’t even know there was a well under his home.
“I was very shocked,” Jumper said. “I’ve been doing this for over seven years, and that’s the first time I’ve ran into something like this.”
When the dog saw Jumper’s face, he immediately stopped barking and began wagging his tail.
“He was about as happy as could be to see me,” Jumper said.
Jumper knew it would not be simple to lift the dog out of the well – which is about 12 feet deep – so he called in backup. Eight rescuers ended up at the scene from the animal shelter and fire department.
“That was the first time I’ve seen a dog in a well, for sure,” said James Parker, a lieutenant with the Longview Fire Department.
Rescuers dug around the baseboards of the home so they were able to shimmy underneath it, bringing with them a harness they created out of fire gear.
“We basically just made some makeshift slings,” said Parker, explaining that they used webbing and rope to make two slings – one for the front and another for the back of the dog.
With a lot of trial and error, they were finally able to lower the slings into the well and weave them around the dog from their position above ground.
“It took multiple people, and a lot of different tools and equipment,” Jumper said, adding that they had a backup plan involving ripping up the floors of the home.
After three hours, they finally managed to hoist the fearful pup up to the surface.
“The dog just came straight up, unscathed from the lift,” Jumper said. “It was an amazing feeling to get the dog out.”
They immediately served him water and a meal. He licked the bowl clean.
They said he’d been in the well for at least several days, if not longer.
When rescuers got a close look at the dog, they said they were stunned by how small he was, as he had looked a lot bigger in the well. The dog weighed about 53 pounds.
“We had five firemen laughing all of a sudden because he was short and stumpy,” said Parker. “He was cute. Really sweet, too.”
They were all relieved that their rescue plan worked.
“We all love animals. That’s one of those things that would break your heart if you couldn’t make something work like that,” Parker said.
As soon as they got the dog out, George said, they covered the well to avoid future accidents. She said the renter who alerted rescuers had never seen the dog before, nor had the landlord, who came right away. Rescuers also went door-to-door, searching for the dog’s owner.
“They got nowhere with it,” she said.
The dog – a basset hound mix – did not have a microchip or identification tags. George said she believes he was a stray and was wandering around underneath the house before slipping into the well. The pup was brought to the shelter and checked by a veterinarian, who noted that he had an inflamed ear and some cuts, but other than that, he was unharmed. The dog is believed to be about 2.
Rescuers decided to name him Timmy – a tongue-in-cheek reference to the classic television show, “Lassie.”
Within hours, “he became a favorite among staff,” said George. “He’s very sweet, very good, just wants loving and pets.”
One of the firefighters from the rescue hoped to adopt Timmy, but he soon learned he couldn’t because Timmy isn’t a fan of cats, and the firefighter has two. The shelter posted about Timmy’s rescue on Facebook and before long, someone from Dallas reached out to adopt him.
“She gave us a call and said, ‘I saw the picture. I’m in love with this dog and I’d love the opportunity to adopt,’” said George.
Timmy was adopted on Feb. 27. George said she and the rescuers are thrilled he made it out of the well safely and found a new home.
“He’s such a love bug,” she said. “We’re definitely glad we had a happy outcome.”