FISHING FOR A DOG. 

Rod Turner and his wife Sandy 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 Rod tried to persuade the stranded dog to come to him.  Unfortunately, it panicked and disappeared along the open canal, past Rod and out of reach. There was no way that he could rescue the dog on his own.

Rod remembered his friend Mark, who is a volunteer for the K9 club in La Marina. He knew that Mark was involved in rescuing dogs from canals on previous occasions. He decided to call him, to see if he could help. Fortunately, Mark was at home and he immediately agreed to come, along with his daughter Yvonne, to try to rescue the dog. With their previous experience at canal dog 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 with Rod 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 at the location where Rod had first seen it. 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 string 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 out and eat. Mark uses soft cat food on dog rescues because it has a stronger aroma than dog food. Whilst Mark and Rod waited patiently Yvonne decided to run along the lane directly above the hidden underground pipe to try to find an access to it so that she could make a disturbance in an attempt to persuade the dog to go back towards the open canal again. She came across a small access hatch and used the cover to make a loud noise. This did the trick. Mark and Rod heard the dog paddling in the water back towards them. Staying out of sight Mark 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 knew the dog was following because 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 entrance Rod quickly blocked it by lowering the weighted plastic netting over it to seal it off.

Having sealed off both entrances to the water pipes Mark and Rod quickly descended into the canal. The dog, seeing all three escape routes sealed off became confused and bewildered. Mercifully, it did not resist when Rod quickly grabbed onto its collar. Getting the dog out of the canal was another difficult task. After a brief discussion Rod moved half way up the ladder. Mark lifted the dog clear of the water and passed it to Rod who then struggled on up the ladder the rest of the way, with the dog in his arms, out onto terra firma. 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 Rod and Sandy where staying. Unfortunately, after the owners returned from their holiday Mark was given just 24 hours to remove her from the finca.

Coco is in 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. THEY LOVE HER VERY MUCH. COCO HAS SETTLED IN GREAT WITH THEM AND CAN BE SEEN DAILY OUT ON WALKS NEAR THE NEW CONSUM SUPERMARKET IN CALLE JUSTO ANTONIO QUESADA..