Labrador saves Golden Retriever trapped in sinkhole for nearly a day after alerting owner during walk

Wrigley, a chocolate Labrador, was out walking with his owner in Marilla Park, Streator, Illinois on Saturday morning when he noticed something.

Macy, a Golden retriever named Macy, had fallen through a sinkhole that was about five feet deep. The Labrador barked at the spot until his owner noticed. He immediately called firefighters to help him.

Wrigley the Labrador who alerted his owner about a dog trapped in a sinkhole
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Streator Fire Chief Fred McClellan, one of Macy’s eventual rescuers, said that the 11-year-old dog had been missing for nearly 24 hours. Volunteers tried to find Macy, but nobody knew that she was stuck beneath the frozen ground. A drone was even sent to her rescue.

The Streator Fire Department responded to this call and performed an unusual rescue. All of it was captured on video.

At first, firefighters tried to get the dog out with a ladder, but Macy, who had leg and hip problems, couldn’t climb it. So the fire chief went down into the hole, wrapped webbing around her abdomen, and pulled her out.

The sinkhole where Macy the Golden retriever fell through
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Macy is lifted out of the hole by firefighters in the footage. McClellan was standing just outside the opening when he helped Macy to his feet.

“There were a lot of things going on real quick,” he recalled.

McClellan fell, but he managed to transfer complete control of his harness to Tim Redd, his engineer, while he was semi suspended over the hole. Redd and Wrigley’s owner pulled Macy out as McClellan rolled away from the opening.

Firefighters pulling a Golden retriever out of a sinkhole
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“If you can see me falling. It was because my one foot under the ground was breaking. I stepped across the hole and grabbed it, but then it collapsed again. Luckily, my engineer, Tim Redd was able to finish pulling the dog out safely,” McClellan told Heart of Illinois ABC of the tricky rescue.

Macy, once she was up, seemed a bit shaken, but she happily greeted a woman who was assumed to be her owner.

McClellan reported that Macy was calm down in the hole and very helpful. She even gave him a paw as she attached her to the leash.

“She was doing really, really good,” he said.

Macy the Golden retriever sitting in the back of her owner's car
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After being pulled from the sinkhole, Streator Animal Control shared a photo of a muddy Macy sitting in the back of her owner’s car.

“The owner got very muddy from the dog,” McClellan told the outlet.

Streator Animal Control thanked Wrigley for alerting Macy’s owner. Worse things could have happened if he didn’t. The Labrador noticed her when no one did—a testament to the intelligence and great instincts of dogs. 

“Wrigley very easily also could have fallen into the sinkhole, but luckily everything worked out!” the agency wrote on Facebook, before thanking the rescuers that helped bring Macy to safety.

Macy the Golden retriever sitting on a couch
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A veterinarian assessed the Golden retriever following the accident and confirmed that she was not injured.

In the comments, Streator Animal Control shared a photo of Macy resting on a couch, saying she “is doing well and resting” following her fall.

Authorities warned locals to avoid Marilla Park—which the organization said is “built on mines”—until it was secure.

Streator firefighters advised pet owners to immediately call the fire department in case they find themselves in a similar circumstance.

Wrigley and all those who helped Macy get her back deserve a big thank you! We hope that the dog got some delicious steak for his efforts.

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