Basset Hound 'doggone' lucky after getting stuck in culvert

Sunday morning started out a little 'ruff' for one North Seattle man and his dog.

"I just started freaking out and feeling helpless and I called 911," said Morgan Smith.

Around 11:00a.m. fire crews responded to Smith's home on the 2100 block of N. 128th Street after he told dispatchers his 80-pound Basset Hound Nina was trapped in a concrete drain.

Smith said the 3-year-old dog had escaped from her outdoor pen and wandered nearly 250-feet inside a concrete drainage culvert near their house.

"I could hear her barking and whimpering. I knew it was such a small tube that she wasn't going to be able to back out," said Smith.

"When firefighters arrived they realized the dog was pretty far inside this drain culvert. So, we called in Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)," said Kyle Moore, spokesman for the Seattle Fire Department.

Using a special remote control camera, designed to fit inside drainage pips, employees with SPU were able to find Nina.

"The dog was definitely stuck at the end of the pipe," said Mike Sullivan, with SPU. "We do a lot of repairs but in this case it wasn't a drain needing repair it was pulling a dog out of the pipe."

Sullivan and his co-worker managed to maneuver Nina, using the camera, toward a plastic pipe off-shoot inside the culvert.

Once inside the plastic section firefighters dug 6-8 inches and were able to reach the pipe.

"Nina came crawling out and just jumped up," said Smith.

Aside from some shaking, Nina was fine and her owner ecstatic.

"I am just so happy that she is out."

To make sure Nina doesn't wander off again Smith said he would be adding another lock to her pen.

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The video story was put together by KOMO Photojournalist Ben Barnett.