Firefighters had no idea how they'd save this puppy trapped in a hole

“We had a goal. We were going to get her out no matter what.” No Images? [Click here]( July 19, 2018 Good morning! Today we have a puppy who was rescued from a sewer, a scared cat who learned to trust and a family of ducks who invited themselves into a house. 1. Firefighters Had No Idea How They'd Save This Puppy Trapped In A Hole Photo Credit: Captain Jackie Gilmore Early Thursday morning, the Evans family was taking their young puppy, MJ, for a walk, when suddenly she disappeared. As they approached the spot where seconds ago MJ had been standing, whimpers echoed from a previously unnoticed sewer drain, which was hidden by the grass and missing its cap. At just a few weeks old, MJ had fallen into the hole and was quickly carried far from her family by water waste down the long pipe. It had only been a few days since the puppy had come to live at her forever home, and the Evans family was already deeply attached to their newest member. Knowing that time was of the essence, they immediately reported the missing dog, and the Charlotte Fire Department of North Carolina rushed to the scene. Unfortunately, the rescue wasn’t as easy as everyone had hoped. “They grabbed their shovels and started digging around the opening, hoping that it wasn’t that deep,” Captain Jackie Gilmore, a public information officer with the Charlotte Fire Department, told The Dodo. “But as they were digging, the drain got deeper and deeper and deeper, and they determined that they needed additional manpower and heavy equipment.” Photo Credit: Captain Jackie Gilmore When the Charlotte water department arrived to assist, they threaded a camera down the hole, trying to pinpoint the puppy’s exact location. While the family was grateful to finally have a visual of MJ, the camera spooked the puppy, causing her to retreat further within the pipe and underground. “We’re sticking a camera down there, and MJ doesn’t know what it is and she’s frightened, so she backs up and moves away,” Gilmore said. “We couldn’t stick anything down there to try and retrieve the puppy because she kept moving.” In order to reach the trapped puppy, rescue workers dug an 8-foot trench in the center of the street. When they finally reached the pipe, cutting a hole was a challenge — one wrong move and the puppy would flee even further into the sewage system. But four hours into the rescue operation, failure was not an option. “We had a goal. We knew we were going to get MJ out, we just had to figure out how we were going to do it,” Gilmore said. “But we were going to get her out no matter what.” When a rescue worker finally pulled a dirty, shaking MJ out of the small hole, a cheer erupted from both the workers and crowd that had gathered. It was an especially emotional reunion for the Evans family, who held MJ close. Photo Credit: Captain Jackie Gilmore “It was a joyous moment when we were able to grab the pup,” Gilmore said. “There was a lot of jubilation — everybody was clapping and high-fiving. And the parents were so grateful toward the rescuers that they started hugging everybody.” The puppy was rushed to the vet to be evaluated, and all is looking well for little MJ now. While her introduction to the neighbors was perhaps a little more public than anticipated, it has earned her quite a few new fans. 2. Stray Cat Was Terrified Of Men — Until She Met This Family Photo Credit: Happy Tails Farm Sanctuary Everyone — both human and animal — was curious about a new individual who showed up at an animal sanctuary in Canada recently. "Thursday started out like any other Thursday in [animal] rescue — completely unpredictable!" Carla Reilly Moore, who founded the sanctuary with her husband, told The Dodo. "At around 9:30 a concerned citizen who had trapped this poor skinny little Siamese cat who had been running around the small town for several months brought her in to our sanctuary to see if we could help her." Moore could tell immediately that this cat had some problems — her eyes were crusty and she seemed thoroughly exhausted. But there was something else, too. "She also had a really strange limp," Moore said. "She was very frightened, and cowered in the corner of her crate. We left her in the crate for a little bit so she could get used to the sounds and smells around her. A few of our animals went to see her." The cat didn't want to get close to anyone at all — but especially did not want anything to do with adult men. She seemed to hate it when anyone towered over her, but when Moore's husband was nearby she was even more nervous. "When she came to peek out she ran back under whenever my husband was near," Moore said. The little frightened stray had no idea just how lucky she was yet — the people at Happy Tails are used to rescuing scared animals from some of the toughest and saddest neglect and abuse cases. This cat was yet another animal that came to the Moore family in pain. Moore and her son Theo set up the cat in a comfortable outdoor enclosure where she could rest before Moore took her to a much-needed vet appointment. Photo Credit: Happy Tails Animal Sanctuary "Theo absolutely loves cats," Moore said. "As soon as he found out about her he ran over to see her and sat beside her. She tentatively came out to see him. We were talking about how she was such a gem, a real jewel. That’s when Theo thought a great name would be Sapphire!" At the vet, Moore discovered that Sapphire didn't have a microchip and had probably been in a lot of pain for at least two weeks — her pelvis was broken. The break will be tricky to treat since it's in a place that can't be healed by a cast. "Sapphire will most definitely suffer from arthritis as she ages," Moore said. When Sapphire returned from the vet, Moore decided to move her into the bedroom. "She hid under the bed a full 24 hours," Moore said. The Moore family had no idea how long Sapphire would be scared of them, especially of Moore's husband. So they resolved to go about their daily business. Moore just had a baby girl in May, so there was no shortage of things to do around the house with a newborn. Then, quite suddenly, after a day under the bed, there was Sapphire. She just went ahead and hopped up onto the bed and started lavishing the family with love. Photo Credit: Happy Tails Farm Sanctuary "We were so surprised!" Moore said. Perhaps most surprising was how Sapphire, the stray cat who was so afraid of men, went over and nuzzled into Moore's husband's neck for a long snuggle. "It was such an opposite behavior," Moore said. "We will never know what happened to her. We'll never know why she ended up on the streets, and will never know how she was injured." Moore plans to take Sapphire to a specialist to explore what to do about her injuries, which have probably given her special needs for life. Until then, Sapphire is content with following Moore around the house and sitting in her lap whenever she takes a seat. "She follows me all over the place like a lost little puppy dog!" Moore said. Sapphire is also pretty obsessed with Mary, the newborn baby. She's been snuggling up near her in bed whenever possible. "Running a sanctuary we see our share of animals who are broken physically and mentally," Moore said. "One of the greatest feelings is when you watch an animal get past the pain and move forward. It’s a very special moment. It’s a moment where they take a chance on the humans in their life." 3. Whole Family Of Ducks Shows Up In Guy's Living Room Photo Credit: James Prettyman A Washington man noticed a new addition to his home on John Sam Lake recently. "I was sitting there, doing all my bills, with all these file folders laid out, working on my computer," James Prettyman told The Dodo, "and all of a sudden I hear this 'quack quack.'" He looked just over the coffee table, where a stack of magazines topped with Better Homes & Gardens lay, and noticed an entire family of ducks just sitting there. Whether the presence of the ducks was an improvement to the room was hard to say — while they certainly lent a natural feeling to the space, they obviously did not belong there. Prettyman filmed the feathered family as he got up and tried to usher them out the open front door, where they had let themselves in. The ducks had something else in mind. The mother duck turned left, and her seven ducklings followed her down the hallway toward the kitchen and then into the dining room, chirping to each other all the way. Then, seeing the sliding glass door open leading to the sunny backyard, they figured they'd leave. Photo Credit: James Prettyman They meandered out onto the deck, hopped down onto the path, and walked across the yard. The ducklings were tiny enough to squeeze through the little space between the fence and the gate, leaving the mom duck separated for a moment, so Prettyman helped her out in a gentlemanly way, opening the door for her. The mother duck exited, holding her head high, and joined her ducklings on the dock. "How many chances do you have to have nature come through your home?" Tom Prettyman, James' father, told The Dodo. "So cool he recorded it all." Family Rescues Whale Tangled In Net [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( The Dodo 100 Crosby St., 201 New York, NY 10012 [Forward]( [Unsubscribe](