The Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A German shepherd is back on solid ground after being rescued from a sinkhole that opened up in a Buffalo park.
The 3-year-old dog dropped more than 10 feet to the bottom of the watery hole during a Sunday morning walk with his owner, Mattie Moore, who nearly fell in herself.
Buffalo firefighter Michael Paveljack says rescuers put plywood around the 2-foot hole to stabilize the ground, then widened the gap for the rescue. Paveljack climbed down a ladder and fashioned a makeshift harness from the dog’s leash that allowed rescuers to hoist it from the hole.
Moore tells The Buffalo News the dog has a sore hip but otherwise seems fine.
The sinkhole appears to have been caused by a broken underground water pipe that eroded the soil.