How a dog, missing for over a month, was discovered in a sewer drain next to Interstate 91
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Ally, a small female dog, was discovered shivering but uninjured in a sewer drain in West Springfield, according to firefighters.
Courtesy of Dennis Foley
But Burchell also investigated a manhole on a grassy hill about 10 feet behind highway guardrails, he said — not because it needed to be cut off from drainage, but because its cover appeared to be missing. Then he saw the dog inside.
'It was very luck of the draw,' he said, adding the animal may not have been discovered had he not peered inside the hole.
'A really good thing'
Foley said he and Burchell were immediately struck by the fact that the dog was OK despite seeming to have been lost for a while.
'I was shocked, especially considering the dog was in as good condition as she could have been,' Foley, 46, said.
The dog, black and white with floppy ears, had some matted fur, but no injuries, Foley said. She was wearing a collar but
had no tags. Burchell said the sewer drain was a few feet deep, meaning the 'smallish' pup had no way of escaping on her own.
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Burchell said he was 'not entirely sure' of Ally's breed.
Firefighter Justin Burchell, a self-described "huge dog guy," with his own dog, a 1-year-old Golden Retriever named Nora, at West Springfield Fire Department Station 3.
Courtesy of Justin Burchell
A pile of rocks topped by a large orange traffic cone also blocked the entry to a small tunnel leading from the drain to the sewer main, Burchell said. If the rocks and cone hadn't been there, Ally could have gotten lost and stuck deep within the sewer system, he said.
'I'm a dog person, and I realized this was going to be a really good thing,' Foley said.
'We know this dog'
When firefighters reported the dog to animal control, responding officers from Springfield's Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center said they recognized Ally, according to Burchell.
'They said, 'We know exactly this dog, because we've been looking for this dog for the past month,'' Burchell said.
Within an hour, Ally was reunited with her owners, Burchell said, although he did not get to meet them.
Today's feel good moment!!
Officer Sanborn received an urgent call from the West Springfield Fire Department regarding...
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A Springfield woman who identified herself in a Facebook comment as Ally's owner could not be reached for comment. The O'Connor Animal Control center also did not respond to requests for comment.
The shelter said in an April 21 Facebook post that Ally was reported missing 'over a month ago' from the Forest Park area. A person posting to Facebook from an account with the name Mildred Davila, who identified herself as Ally's owner, said the dog had been missing for 34 days.
29springfielddog - State police officers try to comfort Ally, a dog discovered in a sewer drain by West Springfield firefighters on Monday, April 21. (Courtesy Dennis Foley)
Courtesy of Dennis Foley
Davila said on Facebook she didn't know how Ally got in the drain after going missing.
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'We are beyond grateful,' the Facebook user said. 'We will never know how she got there but we always know how she was found and the calls that were made to get her back to us her family.'
Foley said she may have hid in the hole to avoid nearby cars on the highway or perhaps other animals.
'Thank God everything happened the way it did,' Burchell said. 'This was one of those things that I'm happy I was able to be a part of.'
Claire Thornton can be reached at
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