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40 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, November 26, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 26, 2004 Crew pulls dog from pit Tired, wet dachshund, missing since Sunday, was pulled to safety from a 15-foot-deep watery pit beneath a house in Eagle Point By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune A Jackson County Fire District No. 3 crew pulled a lost dog out of a cistern-like hole deep under an Eagle Point house Thursday morning. Firefighters squirmed under an old house near the intersection of Fawn Way and South Shasta Avenue to pull the dog out of the wet pit about 15 feet deep and 3 feet in diameter that she had fallen into, Capt. Dennis Jordan said. About 8 inches of dirty water covered the bottom of the pit, which Jordan theorized could have been a cistern or part of a system for draining ground water away from the house. Hannah, a 10-year-old long-haired dachshund, had been missing since Sunday. Owner Bobbie Dillender worked in the yard with the little dog beside her. "She was with me, then she was just gone," Dillender said. Dillender’s family searched the neighborhood, posted signs offering a reward and contacted animal control and the Humane Society. Advertisement "It was an awful, awful feeling, not knowing what happened to her," she said. Sometimes they thought they could hear Hannah whimpering, but chalked it up to wishful thinking, sure that if she was anywhere nearby she would come when called, Dillender said. Thursday a neighbor told the family about unusual noises coming from under her house, where stray cats sometimes caterwauled. Dillender’s daughter’s boyfriend, John McCready crawled under the neighbor’s house and spotted Hannah deep in the watery hole. Dillender summoned the fire crew to test their rescue skills. Jordan sent in volunteer firefighter Nate Smith with a flashlight and a rope with a fishing net attached to the end. Flat on his belly in the crawl space under the house, Smith couldn’t control the rope to capture the dog, Jordan said. In need of a flexible tool to maneuver down to the dog, the firefighters cut a slender branch about 15 feet long from a tree in Dillender’s yard. After experimenting with several knots, they fashioned a loop with one of Hannah’s leashes and duct taped it to the end of the branch, Jordan said. Smith was able to guide the loop around Hannah’s stomach and haul the tired, wet dog up. "She was so tired she couldn’t walk out from under the house," Jordan said. After a warm bath and a trip to the vet, Hannah was resting happily in front of a fire Thursday evening, Dillender said. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities