Puppy rescued after falling 20 feet down St. Louis pipe

FERGUSON, Mo. – Firefighters have rescued a puppy that fell into a St. Louis area drainage pipe and tumbled about 20 feet (6 metres) underground.

Video posted on the Ferguson Fire Department’s Facebook page shows firefighters using a rope with a loop on the end to pull the squealing puppy from the 8-inch (20-centimetre) pipe Wednesday.

The 5-week-old pit bull puppy wags its tail as the firefighters erupt into smiles. The puppy was not hurt.

Ferguson Assistant Fire Chief Randy Skaggs says the firefighters “got kind of lucky and got him around the body and were able to pull him out after about 20 minutes of trying different things.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the puppy’s owners included a young boy, who watched the rescue effort.

Skaggs says the boy was “thrilled.”