http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Firemen-pull-out-dog-from-20ft-deep-well/articleshow/53548382.cms
NEW DELHI: For two days, thedog lay in a decrepit well in a nursery in south Delhi’s Lado Sarai, wet and hungry. But for a chance sighting by a man on Thursday morning, the animal might well have suffered more. As it is, the man saw the dog’s plight and alerted the nursery’s employees, who informed the fire department.
“On receiving a call at around 8.20am, I left for the spot immediately with three other officers,” said Surrender Pal, sub-officer at the Nehru Place fire station. “When we reached the spot, we found that the well was more than 20 feet deep. We placed a ladder in it, but one of us had to first check the animal’s behaviour.”
Pal said that they often get requests for animal rescues, and find that in the circumstances, canines are often aggressive. “Due to injuries or because they are scared, they even attack us,” the fire officer said. “In this morning’s case, however, the animal was quiet and docile.” The firemen first tried to put the dog into a bucket and pull it out, but the nervous creature jumped out. So they wrapped it in a bag and drew him out of the depth.
The scrawny, fawn-coloured creature did not seem to have suffered any serious injury, but was taken to a veterinary doctor for a once-over, where it was declared fit and fine. The leaves and other plant waste in the well probably helped the dog escape unhurt, the people of the area said.
The nursery is a property of the Delhi Development Authority, and the well is usually covered with a grill. Jeet Singh, a resident of the area and executive member of the Lado Sarai residents’ welfare association, who called the fire department, said that it was fortuitous that a playschool on the nursery premises had shut down, else with the open well and kids around, there could have been a bigger tragedy.
“The nursery workers throw waste into the well, and the grill is normally removed for this purpose,” said Singh. “Perhaps it was left open on Tuesday evening, when the dog seems to have fallen into the well. Apparently the workers heard the yelps of a dog then, but could not locate him and they did not think to peer into the well.”
The rescued dog was fed biscuits and milk after being pulled out of the well. The nursery employees told the fire officers that the animals lived in a pack of 4-5 other dogs, and had been present in the locality for around three years now.
Hiranmay Karlekar