4-week-old puppy reunites with Chatham family after ruff rescue

It was a long 45 minutes for a family in Chatham after their four-year-old daughter dropped their four-week-old chihuahua puppy in a cement block hole.

The puppy named Snowflake was about 2.4 metres (eight feet) down. There was water at the bottom of the well.

"My heart was beating the whole time. I didn't know if we were going to get to him on time," said owner Nicole Bueckert, who quickly called emergency services for help. 

Chatham-Kent Police Service responded to the scene Friday morning.

"We got a rope and tried to fish the puppy out, and that wasn't working that well either," said Const. Jennifer Jacobson.

She said Snowflake may have already spent 15 to 20 minutes, partially encased by the cement retaining wall, before Jacobson arrived.

The risky rescue

Fire rescue was then called to assist in case the cement wall had to be cut down, as well as Pet And Wildlife Rescue, a charity in the municipality.

An officer with PAW had a pole with a loop at the end, which was eventually used to fish out Snowflake.

But it wasn't an easy rescue.

The hole that Snowflake fell down was very narrow. Jacobson had to reach deep within it with the pole in order to reach the puppy.

"The whole time he was down the hole, he's crying and whimpering throughout," she recalled.

Then at one point, Snowflake went quiet.

The rescue crew was also trying to remove concrete blocks nearby the hole. As a result, things were also falling into the hole on top of Snowflake.

When the puppy finally emerged into the daylight, he was covered in concrete dust — and shaky.

Snowflake's mom was also there, who Jacobson said was jumping all over.

'Everybody took a big breath again'

Bueckert said she was proud of the team of first responders. 

"They were all so professional, like it was a child stuck down there," said Bueckert. 

"They were all brainstorming and trying to get to him as fast as they could, and everybody was just happy all at once, like, everybody took a big breath again."

For Jacobson, the happy ending to the rescue is a nice change of pace from the usual animal calls the police service receives.

Sometimes they have to put down injured animals to end their suffering, other times it's calls about rabies.

"Everybody was super happy, and probably just close to tears and happy that it was okay."

Since the incident, Bueckert said Snowflake has been doing well. 

"His mom's not leaving his side though."