KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A dog in Loudon County is recovering after being stuck in an abandoned well for two days.
Hazard went missing near his owner’s property on Old Sugarlimb Road on Monday, May 22. His owner, Calie Rodriguez, said she started searching for him and reached out on social media to see if anyone in the area had seen the 4-year-old dog.
“We have a really good neighborhood over here and we’re all kind of close together. So, the first thing we did was walk the neighborhood and went every route that we thought that he would possibly take, where there would have been other animals or some of his favorite spots to visit,” said Rodriguez.
Her husband searched for Hazard until late on Monday. At one point, he aid he heard a whine that sounded like Hazard near a broken-down building but could not find the dog because it was dark.
The next morning, Rodriguez and her children searched near the building again.
“He [Hazard] sounded like he was under something. I noticed that [the house] was too low to the ground for him to get under it, so I started checking next to it, in an overgrown area where vegetation had taken over it completely. I could barely see the top of the well. And so, I looked down and there he was. He was at the bottom of the well,” said Rodriguez.
Worse yet, she said, the bottom of the well appeared to be covered in shattered glass.
Within hours, volunteer firefighters and officers with the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office were able to safely pull Hazard out of the well.
“They had to get a ladder and one of the firemen went down there and I had his harness, so they were able to tie a rope to him and pull him out and that’s how he got saved,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said Hazard did not have a single scratch on him. However, she said he did “smell pretty bad” and needed a bath.
“We are very happy to have him back, especially all my children because I’ve got five kids and they all love their animals. And Hazard is a big part of our family, so he’s been missing for two days and we are really, truly blessed to have him back,” said Rodriguez.
Harazd is now happily back at home and has reunited with his brother, Duke, and the rest of the Rodriguez family.
“I couldn’t imagine not finding him. I mean, it was really, it was really God that we were able to find him and that he came out and escaped like he did. It’s a miracle,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriquez also shared a warning to homeowners to keep an eye out for any exposed wells on their property to keep people and animals from falling in and getting stuck.
“If we can take an extra step to make sure that the people that are around us are safe and that means covering up the well, then do it. Because it could happen to anybody or any animal,” said Rodriguez.