Firefighters rescue dog from varment hole

[JetPhoto 626]

From Times-Herald Record

Doggone trouble: Firefighters rescue varmint-chaser

By Doyle Murphy

Times-Herald Record

July 18, 2007

Goshen — The dispatcher thought a short disclaimer was in order before he told the fire chief what was going on.

“You’re not going to believe this one,” he began.

Goshen Fire Chief Sean Thornton listened, gathered his team and headed out to a dark and wooded area toward the southern edge of the town.

Later, when it was over, he’d shrug and say, “We’re here to serve the public.”

The firefighters arrived about 11 p.m. Tuesday on Lovett Road. They filled the area with floodlights and stepped a few feet into the trees, surrounding the scene. Goshen is one of the few fire companies in the Hudson Valley with a trench-rescue team. Among its tools is a fiber-optic camera capable of filming under water and in holes. Firefighters worked it down into the ground and peered at the image.

About four or five feet down, next to a big rock, they saw him: Rocco —part Daschund, part Boston Terrier, pure varmint chaser.

Rocco’s owner Andy didn’t want his last name used in this story, but he agreed to fill in the details. He’d just arrived home for the night and had taken Rocco outside to do his business. He reached down to put a leash on Rocco and grabbed air instead. Andy says it was a woodchuck, others said gopher. Regardless, it was off running, and Rocco was too.

They raced into the woods. The varmint dove into his hole, Rocco followed. Andy spent the next two hours digging by himself in the dark. Finally, he called his brother-in-law, a dispatcher, and explained the situation.

Goshen’s trench-rescue team usually focuses on humans. (Earlier in the night, members were called after a man in Monroe fell off a roof he was working on and into a trench next to the foundation.) However, when needed, members turn their attention to man’s many friends. There was the iguana that was trapped in a pipe, and the dog that crawled into a culvert tube. Tuesday night, it was Rocco.

“You could hear him barking,” Thornton said, “so he was in good spirits.”

Once they’d spotted Rocco with the camera, firefighters set to work digging a hole alongside him. They freed him less than 30 minutes later and filled in the hole with dirt.

Andy picked him up and thanked all the firefighters. He said he’d wash Rocco’s brown fur, give him some water and take him to the vet for a checkup. Rocco stared from Andy’s truck into the dark. As of press time, the varmint remained on the loose.

Hey if nothing else the guys got to practice.