YANCEY COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — One family’s beloved Australian Shepherd is back in their arms after being stuck inside a mountain culvert for an unknown amount of time.
North Carolina resident Becky Rowe Smith said her 3-year-old dog Gracie somehow managed to crawl through a 25-foot-long, 15-inch-wide culvert in early June. She told WLOS she’s not sure just how long Gracie was stuck inside the culvert, but that her other dog named Emmie helped her find the trapped dog.
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“It could have happened during the night while we slept or it might have happened in the early morning hours,” Smith wrote to WLOS in a message. “Emmie was covered from head to toe with mud though so I think that she had probably been there for a while and Emmie must have hung out there with her.”
The mountain resident said while waiting for animal control to arrive, the fire department arrived with their Jaws of Life. Luckily, the fire department was able to make a big enough opening through the rocks to pull Gracie out safely.
“It was very scary because there was the possibility of the rock above her (which was moving) falling on her and crushing her,” Smith wrote in a Facebook post. “Praise God she’s safe!!!”
Overall, the rescue took about three hours to complete, with the help of multiple agencies. Online, Smith thanked those who helped save her precious pet that day.
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“A big thank you to the Yancey County Sheriff’s Dept, Double Island Fire Department, and each one of you who prayed for Gracie!” she wrote in the Facebook post.
Smith told WLOS she drove a whole 14 hours to Nebraska to adopt Gracie because she fell in love with her after seeing a picture of the dog in an “Aussie” group.
