Dog Missing More Than a Year Found in Maryland Storm Drain
It was eventually returned to its owner.
— -- Cookie, a Wheaton Terrier missing in suburban Maryland since October 2014, was rescued Friday afternoon by animal service officers and Montgomery Country firefighters, according to spokesman Pete Piringer.
The 30-pound dog, also known as Mai Thai, was originally rescued from Thailand after escaping the "illegal dog meat trade," according to the Facebook page set up to find him.
He was discovered around 2 p.m. Friday when a neighbor walking their great Dane was suddenly pulled toward the storm drain.
"I went over and I just saw a dog in there," Nick An told ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. "[It was] pretty beat-up looking."
In video of the rescue, firefighters can be seen using a power saw to cut through the metal bars while the trapped dog waited below.
When the dog could not be coaxed out with food, workers used a firehouse padded with towels at the end to gently nudge the dog to one end of the drainpipe where it could more easily be rescued.
The dog's owner picked him up Friday night, said Piringer.