Curious dog rescued from drain at Mernda
A curious Labrador stuck in a drain for almost three hours has been rescued by firefighters in Melbourne's northeast.
Three-year-old Bronson was on his daily walk at an off-leash park at Mernda this afternoon when he decided to embark on an underground adventure.
His owner Merrilyn Thorpe told 7News: "I just saw him there barking and I kept whistling.
"He's a trained dog to come to the whistle, and I knew he was trapped because he always comes to the whistle."
It wasn't easy to convince the curious canine to come out.
He ventured further into the drain, and became stuck 20 metres underground.
A specialist rescue team was called in to help.
More than 20 CFA and MFB members used ropes to lift Bronson to safety.
A muddy but excited Bronson the Labrador Retriever just pulled from a Mernda drain by CFA & MFB after 3hrs #7NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/p8WUvYRtvw
— Paul Dowsley (@pauldowsley7) September 26, 2014
CFA Operations Officer Steve Pitcher said: “It was a confined space rescue using rope lines and atmospheric monitoring equipment.
“A boy who was in the area at the time also had a skateboard which one of the Dandenong members used to push himself down into the tunnel. He then retrieved the dog and was pulled back up by the ropes.”
Bronson escaped the muddy ordeal unharmed but was taken to the vet as a precaution.
Victoria news headlines - September 26
