Dog News

Missing puggle found clinging to pipe above New Jersey water pit

by Amy Drew

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Rosco went missing on last week. His family was beside itself searching. They feared the worst, but days later got the call they’d been hoping for.

Bayonne, NJ, firefighters rescued the 11-year-old puggle from near drowning after workers at a water plant heard barking coming from somewhere in their facility.

“Responding units found a puggle, an older puggle, holding onto a pipe in an approximate 8-foot pit full of water. Basically holding on so it doesn’t drown,” ayonne Fire Chief Keith Weaver told CBS News.

Rosco is so special, that brothers Drew and Jeff Adelung were dreading the idea of telling their 84-year-old father, Ken, that his beloved companion had gone missing.

“I knew that I was going to have to tell him and it was breaking my heart,” said Jeff Adelung.

Their father had been taken to a rehab center last Friday after suffering a fall. When the brothers returned later that night, they discovered Rosco had escaped through the kitchen door.

“The dog’s a little rascal and he ended up getting away,” Drew said.

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They worried the news would affect their father’s recovery, and so delayed telling him in the hope that Rosco would be found. They posted flyers, the hoped. When they heard the news that Rosco was safe, they felt so much gratitude and relief.

Water plant employees called the fire department upon hearing the barks in an unused portion of the plant. Rescuers were able to reach him, cuddling the pup in a blanket before bringing him to a vet for examination. Drew told CBS New York he raced to the vet when the Bayonne police called. His father, Ken, had gotten Rosco after his mother passed away.

“All I can tell you is it is a miracle,” Jeff said.

The brothers, with dread, had been planning to finally tell their dad on Wednesday that Rosco was missing. Now they can instead share a story with a wonderfully happy ending.