Dog News

Firefighters Rescue Pit Bull Trapped in Sewage Treatment Plant Basin

by Katherine

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On August 15, 2014, firefighters from Contra Costa County in California, rescued a female Pit Bull trapped in a holding basin at the West County Wastewater District treatment plant.

A call came in at 10:30 a.m. from a plant employee reporting the pet in distress. Firefighters were dispatched to the plant located on Garden Tract Road, and a rescue mission was set in motion.

Photo Credit: Contra Costa County Fire Protection District/Facebook
Photo Credit: Contra Costa County Fire Protection District/Facebook

According to Fire Marshal Robert Marshall, when rescuers arrived, they opened the vault to the basin where the dog was trapped. It was “halfway filled with raw sewage,” but luckily, firefighters from Engines 69 and 70 worked along animal control officers to secure the pet and pull her out of the basin.

No one knows how the dog ended up inside the basin or exactly how long she had been trapped there, but thanks to plant employees the dog was saved.

“No one dumped her,” Mark Bish posted on Contra Costa County Fire Protection District’s Facebook wall. “We always get strays running around on our property. She was seen on Monday wandering around the property and we left out food and water for her, but she was too skittish to let anyone near her. Luckily I went out to check a valve on the outskirts of our property that day. Otherwise she would have been in there over the weekend.”

The Pit Bull was treated for dehydration and is expected to make a full recovery.