A
couple took their dog for a walk along local lanes in the
countryside near Rojales. Whilst out walking they crossed one of
many irrigation canal bridges in the area and heard a noise in the
water. They looked down and to their dismay they saw a dog stranded
in the canal. Behind the dog there was a large water pipe leading
underground, another one leading underground at right angles to this
one and straight ahead an open canal with water up to the top of the
dogs legs that extended for many kilometres. With the 2 metre high
concrete canal walls they quickly surmised there was nowhere that
the dog could climb out of the canal. It was trapped. If they did
nothing the dog, unable to rest or sleep, would soon collapse with
exhaustion and drown in the stagnant canal water so the
man tried to persuade the stranded dog to come to him. Unfortunately, it panicked
and disappeared along the open canal, past him and out of
reach. There was no way that he could rescue the dog on his
own.
The
man remembered his friend Mark, a long term animal
welfare volunteer in the La Marina area with the Pets
In Spain rescue team. He knew that Mark had rescued dogs from
canals on previous occasions. He decided to call him to see if he
could help. Mark and his daughter Yvonne immediately agreed
to go to the location where the dog was trapped. With their
previous experience at canal animal rescues they quickly
assembled their home made 'Canal Rescue Kit' consisting of an
extendable ladder, large rope net, plastic netting, a canvas sheet,
a roll of bamboo fencing and a tin of cat
food!
After meeting up all three of them set off in the
car to find the dog again. There are many canals in the area and
after driving alongside one, and coming to a dead end, they had to
back track and try another route. They eventually found the right
canal and sure enough the dog was still there where it had been seen
earlier in the day. Mark lowered the ladder into the canal and
tried to coax the dog to come to him. However, after 3
attempts, this ended in failure. The dog, terrified,
disappeared up one of the two large underground pipes and out of
site. It was at this point Mark introduced his secret weapon, the
‘Canal Rescue Kit’.
The
dog was wading a few metres inside one of the pipes. After blocking
off the entry to the other pipe with the large rope net and canvas
sheet, then blocking the route along the canal itself, Mark opened
the tin of cat food and lowered it on some line down to the
entrance of the pipe where the dog was, in the hope that the
smell of the food would entice it to come toward him. Mark
uses wet cat food on dog rescues because it has a stronger
aroma than dog food. Whilst he waited patiently,
his daughter Yvonne ran along the lane directly
above the hidden underground pipe, she came across a small
access hatch and banged on the cover to make a loud noise. This
did the trick. Mark heard the dog paddling in the water back towards
him. Staying out of sight he felt the tug on the line as the
dog reacted to the aroma of the cat food and started to eat it.
Slowly and steadily he pulled the suspended tin of food away from
the entrance and along the side of the open canal. He continued
to feel the tug on the line as the dog was taking the food whilst
paddling. When the dog was clear of the pipe the other
man quickly blocked it by lowering a weighted plastic
netting over the entrance to seal it off.
Having
sealed off both entrances to the large water pipes Mark quickly
descended into the canal. The dog, seeing all three escape routes
sealed off became confused and bewildered. Mercifully, she did
not resist as Mark grabbed hold of her collar and lifted
her clear of the water. Getting the dog out of the canal was another
difficult task. After a brief discussion with the other man he
moved half way down the ladder. Mark then passed the dog
to him and he ascended the ladder with the dog in his
arms.
Nobody
knows how long this dog had been in the canal. She was totally
exhausted, her underside was red raw and surely very
painfull.
She
has been named Coco and was recovering in the courtyard of the
local finca where the man and his wife were
holidaying. However, a couple of days later the owners of the
finca returned and saw the dog. Mark was given just 24 hours to
remove Coco from the finca as they did not want her there!
Mark
found Coco a foster home. She will remain there until a
new and permanent home is found for her.
.
UPDATE: COCO HAS FOUND A PERMANENT HOME
WITH A COUPLE IN LA MARINA URBANISATION. THEY LOVE HER VERY
MUCH. COCO CAN BE SEEN DAILY OUT ON WALKS IN CALLE JUSTO
ANTONIO QUESADA NEAR CONSUM SUPERMARKET.
PLEASE MAKE A
DONATION TO HELP PETS IN SPAIN FIND NEW HOMES
FOR RESCUED ANIMALS...Click
Here
