Blind dog rescued after falling into building site hole

Dog's owner was alerted by the barking of her other pet

Cesar was rescued after a fireman was lowered into the hole. Pasadena Fire Department / AP
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A 13-year-old blind dog was rescued by firefighters after it fell into a hole at a Californian building site.

The dog, named Cesar, fell into the hole that was 4.5 metres deep and about a metre-wide.

The dog's owner, Mary, said she had been alerted by the barking of her other dog.

When Cesar responded to the bark, Mary said she realised he was not in her yard. She then called local authorities who arrived at the scene within 10 minutes.

Firefighters in the city of Pasadena built a system of hooks and pulleys to lower one of their members into the hole to retrieve the dog, local TV reported.

The rescue operation took about 12 minutes.

Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin said tight spaces such as the hole Cesar had fallen into make rescue operations challenging.

“There’s a lot of steps we need to do to make it as safe as possible, for not just the dog but also our rescuers,” Mr Augustin said.

Apart from a thick coat of construction dirt, Cesar appeared to be healthy and uninjured after he was rescued.

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Updated: September 22, 2022, 11:50 PM