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Golden retriever rescued from 15-foot sinkhole

dog rescue from sinkhole

Last Monday, Skye the golden retriever and her owner, Megan Holmes, were out for a nighttime walk near the Penn State Arboretum when the dog disappeared.

Holmes and her husband Ron spent the next two days searching the area where she had last seen Skye. It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that the two began to hear barking. The sounds eventually led them to their beloved dog, who was trapped at the bottom of a 15-foot-deep sinkhole.

Skye Dog Rescue

Today, Rescue 518 and Engine 510 responded at the request of Asst. Chief Schreiner for a dog that had fallen into a hole at the Penn State Arboretum. The dog was found to be in a hole approximately 15 feet deep but appeared to be in good health. Confined space operations began and Asst. Chief Harris was sent down to retrieve the dog. Chief Harris rigged up a dog harness out of anchor straps and the dog was carefully pulled/pushed up out of the hole. Both the dog and the owner were very happy to be reunited.

Posted by Alpha Fire Company on Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Alpha Fire Company was immediately contacted, and they quickly set to work rescuing the pup. The company rigged up a doggy harness and one of the officers climbed down a ladder to grab Skye.

Photo by Alpha Fire Company/Facebook

Once he got to the bottom, the officer realized that the sinkhole opened up into a car-sized space, which could account for how well the dog seemed to be doing. He strapped Skye in to the harness, and his team carefully pushed and pulled her to the surface.

Photo by Alpha Fire Company/Facebook

Skye’s owners were thrilled to see she was in good health.

“I thought she would have drowned if she was somewhere down there or suffered hypothermia,” Ron Harris told Fox News.

Skye was also excited to be reunited with her owners, and saved from the strange, reverse-Lassie experience. Once returned to the surface, she immediately did a victory lap, greeting everyone with a cheerful nuzzle.