Fox and the Hound: firefighters save animals from Sheffield sewer
Parkway Red Watch firefighters rescued a dog and a fox from an underground sewer system in Sheffield this week.
Crews were called to the site at 1pm on Monday where the animals were stuck 5m down a 50m sewer pipe. Locals said the animals may have been there since the previous evening.
The team tried to locate the animals using traditional methods, but when this failed they used specialist tools normally used for urban searches and earthquakes.
This listening equipment is designed for USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) to find victims trapped because of natural disasters, mines and collapsed trenches.
The firefighters dug a hole right above the animals and brought them to safety. They were handed to the RSPCA who sent the animals to be checked by vets.
The story has received a lot of social media attention after South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue released the information on Facebook, as well as in a Twitter Thread with emojis and memes.
The dog is due to be re-homed and the fox will be released into a safe location in the wild.
The clever firefighters managed to triangulate the position of the 🦊 and the dog 🐕 and were able to dig a hole right above the animals, finally managing to bring them to safety pic.twitter.com/gwqtNV6ObY
— South Yorkshire Fire (@SYFR) November 28, 2018
Both animals were then handed over to @RSPCA_Frontline who took them to the vets, where they were checked over.
The 🦊 was unharmed. In fact, it turns out 🦊 and 🐕 became good quite good friends down that sewer pic.twitter.com/CqMJxW1QWh
— South Yorkshire Fire (@SYFR) November 28, 2018