Incident # 23-09445 - At 12:29, Fire-Rescue responded to 189 Sunrise Road in the Town of Smoaks to assist Colleton County Animal Services Officers (Paul Martin, Diane Cook and Owen Bridge) who located several puppies inside a culvert pipe. The puppies were 30 to 40 feet inside the pipe which ran under a driveway at a manufacturing facility. Several residents had been feeding the mother for several weeks and a new resident watched the dog go into the narrow pipe. Upon investigation she discovered the puppies. Thanks to a local resident, Jimmy Hall, Responders were provided several pieces of PVC pipe, a bucket lid, and several rolls of duct tape. Mr. Hall made multiple trips to his home to ferry supplies to the scene. The bucket lid was the perfect size and was just small enough to clear the pipe which was partially filled with years of dirt. The tool worked well enough to coax the puppies to move within 15-20 feet of Responders. Firefighter-Paramedics then fabricated a long soft ended hook and were able to bring the puppies out one by one. After five hours of patience and tedious work, five puppies were rescued from the pipe. Animal Services also secured the mother of the pups. All six were transported to the animal shelter and will hopefully be adopted out to loving families in the near future. The combined effort of concerned citizens and Responders paid off.
Animal Services Director Laura M. Clark stated, “Colleton County Animal Services is fortunate to work with such a dedicated team from Colleton Fire-Rescue. Working together for the support of our community, the animals and the people who love them is at the heart of our mission. We are working on securing a foster home with a rescue partner today for the momma and pups where their needs will be met and when the pups are old enough, they will be placed in loving homes.”
“This was a tremendous team-effort by Colleton County Animal Services, several residents from the Town of Smoaks, and Fire-Rescue. We were very happy that the incident had a positive outcome. It is very likely that the puppies would not have survived the cold temperatures last night,” said Colleton County Fire-Rescue Chief Barry McRoy.
Engine 7, Medic 7, Car 105 and Car 112 responded. Lt. David Sauls served as Incident Commander.
