It was around 8.30 p.m. on Saturday night that Sharanya Chander, a 21-year-old photography student, along with her sister and a friend, heard a dog’s cry near her house in Royapettah.
“After hearing a cry from an open manhole, we looked in and saw a dog stuck inside,” she said. Having previously contacted the fire and rescue services department, when she found a crow tangled in string, she called the department for help again on Saturday night.
The dog, which appeared terrified, was rescued after a nearly 90-minute operation by a team of five firemen from the Mylapore fire station.
“There were four manholes, of which one was open, down which the dog fell. The firemen opened another manhole and pumped in water through it to move the dog near the open one. But it stayed between the manholes,” she said.
“The firemen were extremely patient, and when the dog was finally rescued, everybody cheered,” said Sharanya who wants to be a wildlife photographer.
One of the firemen involved in the rescue operation said their team had rescued animals in distress, earlier as well.
“It took us long to rescue the dog because we could not get into the drain and had to make the dog come near the exit. Sometimes, we lower a bucket and rescue the animal,” he said.
A fire and rescue services officer said they often got calls about dogs, cats, cows and crows in distress.
Puppy adoptedIn another instance, Dawn Williams, general manager of Blue Cross of India, said a three-month-old puppy that was recovering at a clinic after its tail and ears were chopped off by a man in Kolathur, last week, had been adopted on April 14.
“The puppy is undergoing treatment and doing well now,” he said.
