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CALUMETVILLE, WI
(USA)
— Some people will go to incredible lengths to
save a dog; some would risk their lives. But how many of you would
swim in a pit of liquid manure to save your neighbor's pooch?
According to an article in this weekend's
Fond
du Lac Reporter, a farmer from Calumet wouldn't wait for
rescue teams to arrive and instead landed himself in some deep doo-doo in
order to save a dog from drowning. Joe Lavey, 29, was working on his
farm at N10879 Tower Road about 8am Friday when he heard the yelp of a dog
in distress. At first, he continued working, but when the cries were
heard again 15 minutes later, Mr. Lavey went to investigate. At an
8'-deep, 500'-by-100' manure pit, he saw only the head of a dog protruding
above the surface.
Mr. Lavey called the Fond du Lac County
Sheriff's Department, but they were unable to assist. They suggested
that he call the fire department. He made a call to the Humane
Society, but they instead referred him to the Department of Natural
Resources. The Department of Natural Resources, in turn, referred
him back to the Sheriff's Department who, this time, sent officers on the
way.
In the meantime, the dog was developing
hypothermia from the freezing temperatures and certainly wasn't smelling
any better as time passed. It was estimated that the dog had been
stuck in the pit for two hours already. So Mr. Lavey decided to roll
up his sleeves and do the dirty job himself. At first, not
particularly intending to swim freestyle in feces, he laid plywood boards
and a ladder across the thin ice covering the pit and crawled on his belly
toward the dog.
About 40 feet out, he fell off the ladder and took
a poop plunge. A dung dunk. A fertilizer furlough.
...Well, you get the picture.
By the time he reached the exhausted canine and slipped a rope around him,
Mr. Lavey said the dog was "basically limp."
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Scoop Senior Editor "Wags" does
often enjoy rolling around in pungent piles of unrecognizable filth, but
he wouldn't dare come close to a manure pit like this one. ...not
even for two Scooby Snacks.
"He was big," Joe said. "I had to pull like hell to
get him out."
The man and his father placed the mucilaginous mutt in the back of their pickup
truck and took him back to the barn where they gave him a warm bath and
uncovered what lay beneath the muck.
"He was all black, but after his bath we realized he was a
collie," recounts Mr. Lavey. The dog was wearing a collar with
tags which identified him as "Lassie", the neighbor's dog from
just down the road.
Lassie's guardians, George and LaVerne Buechel, arrived 30 minutes
later to claim their 7-year-old pooch who had been in the family since he
was a puppy. By the time they arrived, Lassie's condition had
improved somewhat, and he was sitting up and trying to walk around.
The Buechels said the dog was given several more baths after they got
home. We sincerely hope Joe had a few, too.
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