Dog rescued from manhole

By CHARITY SMITH

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Hurley - A rescue effort that included the help of the Hurley Police and Public Works departments successfully retrieved a dog that had fallen into a manhole near Second Avenue near downtown Hurley Wednesday morning.

Sadie, a 13-year-old German wire hair pointer belonging to Karen and Paul Hagemann, ventured off into a culvert during her morning walk shortly before 9 a.m. The culvert starts at the west side of Second Avenue and runs under the road before merging with the city's storm drain system and ending at the Montreal River.

"(Sadie) has a habit of walking through culverts in roads, but this one doesn't come out, it just goes all the way into the river," said Karen Hagemann.

Hagemann said that the dog is kept off leash on the west side of the street as it is a nice wooded area where she can run and play. The dog is normally put on a leash on the other side where the area is more populated, she said.

Hagemann said that she could hear her dog faintly barking, but was unable to get to her. The culvert runs for about 80 feet before it meets up with the storm drain near the Hurley trailhead for the motorized and non-motorized trails two blocks from the Michigan border. Where the culvert and storm drain meet, there is approximately 5-foot drop to the catch basin. Sadie fell, or possibly jumped, into the catch basin and was unable to get out, according to Scott Santini, director of the city's DPW department.

"It wasn't like we had something open that the dog fell into - it walked into a culvert," Santini said. "The dog apparently was nosey and was like, 'What's in here?' and just went into the culvert and next thing you know, it got turned around probably."

Throughout the ordeal, the Hagemanns kept talking to their dog to keep her calm and from venturing further into the drain system. Karen said there was no way her dog would have gotten out if it wasn't for the assistance of the DPW, as they knew the layout of the storm drain.

The city workers were able to uncover and open the manhole, which was covered with gravel near the trailhead.

Hurley Police Chief Chris Colassaco said it was fortunate that there was a manhole there that allowed the rescuers to access the dog.

A ladder was placed into the manhole, which runs down about 10 feet, and the Hagemann's adult son, Scott, was able to climb down and rescue the dog.

Santini said that Scott Hagemann, 35, who was visiting from Idaho, was the "hero."

"He knows the dog so the dog would come to him verses a perfect stranger," Santini said of the decision to send Scott into the storm drain after the dog. "We just felt the dog would come to him and not come to one of us."

Scott told his mother after rescuing the family dog that it was a "reverse search and rescue." Normally, you bring the dogs out to rescue people, but we had people go rescue the dog, he joked.

Karen estimates that Sadie's adventure into the culvert/manhole was about a 45-minute ordeal. Although Sadie is nervous after her adventure, she was largely unharmed.

"The dog wasn't injured and was returned to her owners and, so, life is good," said Colassaco.