Melville

Family Dog Rescued After Falling 10 Feet Into Open Cesspool in Long Island Backyard

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A Labrador retriever who fell into a cesspool was rescued by quick-thinking Long Island firefighters Wednesday night.

The 3-year-old dog, named Duke, ran into the backyard of his home in Melville while the family cesspool was being pumped. He didn’t see the hole and fell in.

Firefighters estimated he had fallen 10 feet into the 12-foot-deep hole. Members of the Melville and Huntington Manor Fire Department responded to the Eastfield Lane home.

"The dog was frantic in the hole, panting, whining, heavy breathing,” said Assistant Chief Jason Bernfeld. "We do know the air is compromised because it’s a cesspool."

Toxic gases can live in cesspools and can be fatal, but firefighters said it helped that it was just pumped and aired out right before Duke made the unfortunate plunge. And while he is a Labrador mix, his family says he hates to swim.

"He was crying, and for any pet parent that is just the worst sound you can hear," said owner Alison O’Loughlin. "And the feeling of hopelessness that I don’t have the tools to get him."

While a firefighter was getting ready to lower himself into the cesspool, which is no more than two feet in diameter, the dog ended up helping himself.

"We stopped hearing the dog swimming, so we lowered a ladder in the cesspool,” explained Chief Chuck Brady of the Huntington Manor Fire Department. "And at that moment the dog jumped through the ladder and situated himself on the last rung of the ladder and we pulled him up."

O’Loughlin says everyone cheered when they pulled Duke out. The first thing he did, like any dog would do, is shake off the sludge. He managed to spray everyone near him with sludge, but O’Loughlin says she barely noticed.

"We feel very lucky that we have a positive outcome," said O’Loughlin. "It would have been tragic for us."

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