Firefighters rescue dog trapped between garage walls
Gertie was missing for 5 days
CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - Cincinnati firefighters rescued a dog over the weekend who went missing for five days.
Truck 20 got the call on Sunday after a neighbor heard Gertie crying behind a concrete block wall in her garage.
Gertie’s owners Connie Frick and Lynn Herman describe her as a sweet dog and an excellent escape artist.
“She escaped as Lynn was coming in the front door ... went right into the woods,” Frick told WXIX-TV.
Gertie has gotten loose before and been found in other people’s garages, but when she didn’t return right away, her owners and their loved ones put up posters around town.
Neighbor Vanessa Roland said she was the one who saw the dog through a hole in the attic floorboards. Another neighbor called the fire department.
“We were just excited. We were like, ‘I can’t believe,’ cause we knew it had been a while, so we thought like this is exciting, and hopefully, she’s OK,” said Roland.
Frick said she thinks Gertie fell through the roof of Roland’s garage and found herself trapped in a crevice between two concrete walls.
“We’re just very happy and lucky and very grateful to our neighbors,” she said.
Fire crews used saws and a sledgehammer to break through the concrete blocks and rescue Gertie because they could not lift her out of the narrow enclosure.
After about 10 minutes, crews were able to break the wall and rescue the dog safely, firefighters said.
Roland says that she saw a flyer with the dog’s picture and called the owners.
Gertie’s owners say she was a little tired but fine otherwise.
“It was just so sweet, just wagging that little nub tail, and she was just so, she was so excited,” Frick said.
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