Dog rescued in Southern Indiana after 2 weeks stuck in a pit reunites with owner

Some spelunkers who were exploring and looking for caves at a Harrison County, Indiana, nature preserve found and rescued a starving dog at the bottom of a pit.

On Sept. 4, the cavers were exploring Dewey Hickman Nature Preserve when they saw movement in the pit. They looked down and saw a thin black-and-white dog at the bottom of a 30-foot drop.

The cavers rappelled down and were able to lift the dog out of the cave. The cavers believe that the dog may have originally been caught by his collar on a branch as he fell, as there appeared to be scratch marks about halfway down the shaft.

“We believe the dog was eventually able to wiggle free and dropped to the bottom of the cave,” said a spokesperson for the Harrison County government.

The cavers reported there was an empty turtle shell at the bottom of the cave, which may have helped collect rainwater and kept him alive. A member of the local community took the dog home for the night and called Harrison County Animal Control in Corydon, Indiana, for help.

“Based on his condition, we believe he may have been in the cave for up to two weeks,” said the spokesperson. “He is very thin, and his collar is very loose, leading us to believe he had been in the cave long enough to drop a significant amount of weight.” dewey

“He is still a little lethargic right now after everything that has been going on,” said Director of Harrison County Animal Control April Breeden. “But when he first came in this morning he was just so loving. He just wanted to be loved on and be petted. I took him into my office, and he immediately jumped up on the couch, and he’s been sleeping there ever since. He is amazing.” dewey

He was initially named Dewey after the park in which he was found, but later Harrison County Animal Control said that they believe they had found Dewey’s owner, and that his name is actually Hawkeye. The animal control is working to confirm this so that they can reunite the resilient pup with his owner.

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