FORT MILL, S.C.-- One dog is lucky to be alive thanks to some brave rescue workers and a neighbor who heard her barking and crying.
“We approached the dog and started digging him out of the mud. He was trapped up to about his belly area," said Anthony Villeneuve of the Fort Mill Rescue Squad.
The dog is believed to have spent nearly 24 hours in a freezing cold creek in Fort Mill.
"It was so matted that it just soaked up this water and it was what we would call waterlogged. It could not get out of the creek on its own,” said Chris Peninger of the York County Animal Control.
Dave Yarnes noticed all the commotion when he got home Sunday night.
Rescue crews were already working to save the dog.
Yarnes picked up his camera and started shooting.
“He was about half way submerged in the water and his feet had actually gotten frozen,” he said.
Rescuers say it took them about an hour to free the dog.
There was "mud towards the bottom of his feet. [It] was very hard and compacted,” said Villeneuve.
Once free, the dog was taken to the Palmetto Veterinary Medicine and Surgery North in McConnells, South Carolina.
Overall, she appears to be in pretty good health, considering what she’s been through.
"She had soaked up almost three times her body weight due to the mats,” said Peninger.
She went on to say, “this was probably one of the worst ones I've ever seen."
As it turned out, the dog everyone thought was a boy, was actually a girl and because she was so matted, there was no way to tell if she had a collar or microchip, until all of the hair came off.
Turns out, she didn’t.
So, no one knows who or where the owner is or if she was a stray dog.
But one thing is for sure. "Because of the temperatures last night and the water temperature, she's a very lucky dog to have survived this,” said Peninger.
The dog will undergo some tests to make sure she’s okay.
She will likely be put up for adoption in the next few days or placed with a rescue.
For more information, call York County Animal Control at 803-628-3190.
