Dog News

Dog Spends Hours Buried Alive and Survives

by Katherine

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Pachis, a dog from Meira, Spain, was sleeping peacefully in his backyard when a massive retaining wall made of large boulders toppled on top of him burying alive for four long hours. Luckily, thanks to his owner, neighbors and city workers, the dog was pulled from the rubble alive.

Photo credit: Santos Álvarez
Pachis and his family. Photo credit: Santos Álvarez

The rocky retaining wall divides and protects family homes and a road frequently used by school children on their way to school. Residents filed complaints about the condition of the old wall for more than a year prior to this incident, but the government never took precautions to strengthen, secure or rebuild the wall.

According to Faro de Vigo, it was 10 a.m. on Nov. 5, 2015, when Pachis was out in his yard taking a nap, out of nowhere the wall’s foundation gave way and boulders in addition to hundred of piles of dirt fell over obstructing some of the road and burying the dog.

The rubble after the retaining wall fell. Photo credit: Santos Álvarez
The rubble after the retaining wall fell. Photo credit: Santos Álvarez

Fortunately, no children or adults where harmed but Francisco Lorenzo, Pachis’s owner, knew his dog was out in the yard and now he was missing.

Francisco Lorenzo looking for Pachis. Photo credit: Santos Álvarez
Francisco Lorenzo looking for Pachis. Photo credit: Santos Álvarez

The Lorenzos feared their dog was dead because they couldn’t hear him barking at all, and even though they felt hopeless, they dug and called authorities hoping for a miracle.

The city sent an excavator and after four hours of carefully removing the rubble, Pachis was found. He was alive! Neighbors and family members hugged and cried after the dog was found unharmed.

Francisco Lorenzo and Pachis. Photo credit: Santos Álvarez
Francisco Lorenzo and Pachis. Photo credit: Santos Álvarez

Locals hope the government now takes their complaints seriously and a secure retaining wall is built in its place.