Lucy the Dachshund should be considered one of the luckiest pups right now. On April 3, her owner let her into the fenced-in backyard of their home in Derby, Kansas for the day with her brother dog, Thor, but she didn’t come back in when called at the end of the day. Rebecca Felix and her husband were devastated and assumed that she had somehow managed to get out of the backyard, but they had no idea how. They would walk the neighborhood every night, calling for her and hoping that she would reappear, but they had no luck. Ten days went by and Thor started fussing about a spot in the backyard covered by a concrete slab, but the Felixes couldn’t figure out what his fascination with it was.
Photo Credit: Matt Riedl/The Wichita Eagle
As it turned out, Thor was trying to show them that Lucy had never even left the backyard. It seems that she had managed to dig a very large hole underneath the side of the house, made a turn, and dug right underneath the concrete slab that was the base for their air conditioning unit. At this point, she got herself into some real trouble, because she couldn’t get herself back out. Last Thursday evening, they continued their routine of calling for her when they heard the quietest bark ever. Using an app on his phone, Mr. Felix played a dog whistle sound, and they heard another bark. This was when they realized it was coming from underneath the concrete.
Photo Credit: Capture From Youtube video by Matt Riedl/The Wichita Eagle
Mr. Felix dug feverishly next to where the concrete slab was and saw Lucy’s face looking back at them, but couldn’t get her all the way out. They called 911 and the Derby Firefighters and Police responded. Soon, they had Lucy out from underneath the concrete and the Felixes rushed her to the emergency veterinarian. She was treated for dehydration, starvation, and severe corneal ulceration from all of the dirt. Vets couldn’t believe that survived the ordeal without any type of organ failure, but Lucy has since been doing well and goes in for check-ups to make sure her recovery is still going smoothly. She even celebrated her 4th birthday the day after she was rescued. I imagine there were lots of extra presents and spoiling this year!
Photo Credit: Matt Riedl/The Wichita Eagle
Watch a newscast about Lucy and the Felixes here:
References:
1. The Wichita Eagle
