Despite the efforts of rescuers, a Vancouver Island pooch has been put down after he was dramatically rescued from a pipe.
Jennifer Pendray’s dog Tonka went missing two days ago. The 14 year old Husky mix had never wandered off before.
For two days Pendray searched with the help of FLED – an organization that helps find lost dogs.
But it was a tip from a nearby North Saanich homeowner that lead to the dramatic rescue.
Tonka was stuck in a pipe – 18 metres down a culvert only about 100 centimetres wide.
Enter the North Saanich Fire Department and a brave volunteer, a friend of Pendray’s.
The man carefully crawled into the pipe all the way to the scared and stuck pooch.
They got Tonka in a harness and on a makeshift gurney but in the end then just pulled the exhausted dog out to be reunited with his owner.
While it appeared at first that he might be ok, a vet assessed Tonka and discovered that his jaw had been broken and that he had likely crawled into the pipe after being struck by a vehicle.
Sadly, the vet said the dog was too old to recover from his injuries.