Sinkhole Swallows 14-Year-Old Husky 8' Deep into Ground, Owners Find Him Before It's Too Late
With heavy rains that ravaged Pennsylvania last week, firefighters worked hard to help local residents — including the rescue of a husky from a sinkhole.
The 14-year-old dog named Damon had slipped into a sinkhole caused by the rains right in his owner’s backyard, according to WNEP. The dog was stuck and needed help to find his way out — but rescue was on the way.
The property owner, Tom Borthwick of Old Forge, in Lackawanna County, noticed the hole in the backyard but couldn’t find his son’s dog until he looked in it. There was the husky, with no way to get out.
Borthwick was shocked by the sinkhole — and Damon’s predicament.
The sinkhole was 8 feet deep, so the help was greatly needed.
Fortunately, firefighters from the Old Forge fire department arrived to retrieve the dog from the sinkhole — in a story so moving it got picked up by the national program “Inside Edition.”
Old Forge fire Lt. Ron Cole told WNEP that Damon was very tired, and didn’t fight the firefighters as they put him in a harness.
Firefighters then lifted the dog to safety.
Borthwick told the station that Damon has arthritis. He hoped the dog would be all right after the fall.
Thanks to the heroic efforts of these firefighters, Damon was reunited with his family without injury.
Damon is lucky that the fire department was able to save him as there was many who needed help that day.
“The firemen have been running nonstop from road closures and flooding roadways to pumping hundreds and hundreds of basements throughout the entire borough, so you have to give a lot of credit to them for finding the time to get a dog out of a hole,” Chief Jason Duberhas told WNEP.
Borthwick also told WNEP that he was happy Damon was safe, but said the dog wouldn’t be allowed in the backyard any time soon.
Without the help of the fire department, who knows how long the husky would have been trapped.
Thanks to the heroic efforts of these firefighters, the husky is free again and ready to roam (just not the backyard for now).
Sometimes even man’s best friend needs a helping hand.
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