Drama unfolds as dog struggles to escape from concrete grid (Video)

On November 17th, a stray dog somehow found its way onto a concrete hillside in Tokushima. The dog became trapped a concrete grid and started howling in misery. The area’s residents noticed the dog and began rescue attempts. A few days ago, rescue workers tried to catch the dog with nets, resulting in the following situation:

The dog was clearly frightened by the nets, and in an attempt to avoid them, it almost fell to its death. With the dog trapped in the next concrete square, the rescuers called it a day. The dog’s plight became a major news story and the Tokushima government was flooded with calls from people wanting to adopt the dog. When I left for work yesterday morning, the dog’s fate was still uncertain. Luckily, by the time I got home, good news was being reported. As this video link and the following news article shows, he was successfully rescued:

TOKUSHIMA — A puppy stranded for five days on a concrete grid on a steep slope here was rescued Wednesday morning in an effort by some 20 rescue workers.

Tokushima rescue officials decided to retrieve the dog from the 100-meter tall grid, which was built to prevent rockslides, after deciding that it was unable to escape by itself.

“It’s a precious life that was saved with help from many people,” a local public health center official said. “We’ve already had several inquiries from people saying they want to adopt it, and we want to give it away after it recovers.”

The dog apparently fell onto the grid from a thicket near the top, and was spotted about 50 meters up. A resident heard the dog howling at about noon on Nov. 17 and alerted the Tokushima public health center.

Officials said the animal appeared to be a mongrel. It was about 70 centimeters long and was only a few months old. It was not wearing a collar.

Rescue workers initially thought that it would be able to escape by itself, but they decided to begin rescue efforts on Tuesday morning. The workers tried to capture the dog using a net, but it jumped from box to box in the grid, avoiding them.

On Wednesday morning, workers placed protective netting below the dog and managed to capture it. (Mainichi)

The dog did not suffer any major injuries, and is currently recovering in a cage while the authorities are busy trying to determine who will get to adopt the dog.