Crews dig up sewer pipe after hearing dog breathing inside, North Dakota officials say

Rescuers painstakingly remove dirt from above a storm sewer pipe until the dirty, matted head of a dog is exposed, video from North Dakota shows

“Bentley, right there buddy,” a crew member says as one of them puts an oxygen mask over the dog’s snout.

At around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 1, rescuers with the West Fargo Fire Department responded to a report of a dog that had gotten stuck in a storm sewer pipe, a post on the department’s Facebook page says.

The dog, a 13-year-old Shetland sheepdog named Bentley, had fallen into an uncovered storm drain, according to Inforum.

Gloria Shipman, who was taking care of the dog, told the outlet that Bentley is a medical support animal for her daughter.

“As it happened, Bentley and I connected visually,” she told the outlet about the rescue operation. “The helpless look on his face, I can’t describe it any way other than him telling me, ‘help me,’ and I couldn’t.”

After rescuers arrived on scene, they listened for Bentley’s breathing to find his location in the pipe, according to the fire department. They also called on the West Fargo Public Works Department for assistance.

West Fargo is about 190 miles east of Bismarck.

Crews worked to dig out the pipe, and once they could see it, they slowly started to pull Bentley out to safety.

“You don’t need to rush here,” one of the rescuers says in the video.

The operation took around three hours, Yahoo News reported.

Shipman can be heard in the background saying, “Good boy, Bentley. Hi, Bentley.” A rescuer then takes the disheveled dog in his arms and walks him out of the hole before handing him to another crew member standing by with a towel.

“Hi sweetheart. Oh, Bentley,” Shipman says as a rescuer hands Bentley over to her.

This story was originally published October 4, 2022 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Crews dig up sewer pipe after hearing dog breathing inside, North Dakota officials say."