Watch Firefighters Rescue A Pennsylvania Dog Stuck Inside A Sinkhole For Two Days [Video]

A dog in Pennsylvania was rescued from a 15-foot sinkhole. Firefighters carefully pulled up the exhausted but happy pooch after remaining stuck inside the narrow tubular hole for two nights.

A Pennsylvania dog that spent two nights stuck in a 15-foot-deep sinkhole was rescued Wednesday by firefighters using a makeshift harness. The dog, named Skye, was reunited with her owners Wednesday. She had remained stuck in a sinkhole located at The Arboretum at Penn State. Owners Ron and Megan Holmes confirmed their beloved golden retriever is now doing fine despite the scary ordeal, reported Fox News.

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Megan shared she was out walking her dog around at The Arboretum at Penn State University. It was during a mild snowstorm that she decided to offer Skye the freedom to play and explore in the snow. The duo was accompanied by their neighbor and their dog. The dogs sped off into the snow. While it was supposed to be a routine walk, Megan became increasingly concerned when Skye failed to return, reported UPI. In retrospective, Ron now regrets letting Skye off the leash.

“We understand we were in the wrong to let her off leash. She’s so good about staying close, and all of a sudden she was gone.”

The family began frantically searching for the dog that seemed nowhere to be found in the snow. Owing to the past behavior of the dog, the family grew increasingly worried that she might have fallen into one of the numerous sinkholes that are now routinely being filled in at The Arboretum. Although the owners did come across a sinkhole very near to the area where the dog went missing, they were unable to find any signs of her in the snow and couldn’t even hear her barks due to gushing water, said a now visibly overjoyed Ron.

“I got as close as I could, yelled down and couldn’t hear anything because of the gushing water. I thought that could explain how she disappeared.”

Not giving up on their canine family member, Ron and Megan returned the very next day looking for Skye. Her frantic barking greeted them.

“Oh, it’s the most fantastic feeling hearing her. I was so sick last night thinking she was gone. I thought she would have drowned if she was somewhere down there or suffered hypothermia.”

However, they were petrified to realize the barking was originating from deep within the earth. Apparently, Skye had stumbled into a rather large sinkhole, which firefighters would later describe as “Volkswagen buggy-sized hole,” reported Yahoo News. Despite the rather large size of the sinkhole, its 18-inch-wide mouth made a simple rescue impossible. But nothing’s impossible for a determined group of individuals, especially if they are well trained in the search and rescue of victims during a fire or any other natural calamity.

After the opening was carefully widened to 30 inches, an assistant chief with the Alpha Fire Company carefully but quickly climbed down a ladder and hooked the dog to a makeshift harness that was designed at the location, said regional fire director Steve Bair.

“On the fly we constructed a harness for the dog. Skye was a very nice dog… (and) was in good shape, which was helpful for the rescue. [She] kind of sensed what was happening and was very cooperative.”

Before the rescue, campus police had brought large mats, which they carefully laid it out around the sinkhole to stabilize the area, reported the Centre Daily Times. After the rescue, the family took Skye for a precautionary examination to the veterinarian, who confirmed she would be fine and needed nothing more than water, nourishment, and love.

[Photo by Alpha Fire Company/Facebook]