The morning was proceeding like any other at our In Defense of Animals India Center until the moment a member of our team received a call from the Navi Mumbai Fire Brigade; an animal was stuck in a narrow gutter pipe at the huge Siemens Company compound in nearby Airoli.

A security guard had been making his rounds on the periphery of the grounds when he heard the faint sounds of an animal in distress. He located the source of the sound and immediately called the Fire Brigade, who in turn called on our IDA India Center to take control of the rescue effort. That day, our in-house veterinarian, Dr. Jadhav, was present, and he and several employees quickly responded.

The soft cries they heard as they approached the scene told them an adult dog was trapped far inside the gutter pipe, scared, and possibly in pain. With great difficulty and only a small flashlight to help him see, one employee bravely crawled into the pipe on his stomach, taking care not to get stuck himself. He carefully put the come-along loop around the dog’s neck, and even with her snapping at him from anxiety, gently pulled her out, taking great care not to cut off her breathing.

When she was safely freed, she was immediately taken into the ambulance for a thorough check-up by Dr. Jadhav. Her mouth had to be tied during the exam as shock and fear was causing her to bite. He found no internal or external injuries, and after a period of calm and quiet, during which the staff kept watch, her breathing normalized.

Only then, when there was no danger of food entering her lungs, did she eat and drink a little. She soon revived, got up, and walked out of the compound. She had probably come in from outside the property, walked a fair distance, and crawled into the pipe to rest out of the heat. In cases like these, our staff is greatly handicapped by not being able to afford camera orvideo equipment for each ambulance, or else we could visually document many more animal rescues, some which are quite harrowing.

What began as a most challenging day for rescuers culminated in a collective sigh of relief for a dog who might otherwise not have been noticed until it was too late. Thanks to our veterinarian, Dr. Vishwanath Jadhav, and employees Prashant Sawant, Sandeep Shirsat, Ravi Manjrekar, Sudhakar Kadam and Sachin Rathod… brave-hearts, all.