They say it takes a village to keep a pet safe – and they’re usually right!
For the O’ahu family, it was just a regular Wednesday walk with their family dog, a young Pit Bull named Kila. Everything seemed perfectly fine until the excited Pittie saw something interesting moving in the distance.
When Kila realized it was a chicken, he embarked on a chasing adventure, ripping the leash from his owner’s hand. What the family didn’t know at the time was that Kila’s little escapade would soon turn into an hours-long rescue mission!
Unexpected Rescue Mission
During the chase, Kila ran for several yards and ran into an open storm culvert in Waianae, Hawaii. What was supposed to be an evening stroll turned into a nightmare for her family.
“Neither of them expected that a harrowing rescue would occur just four hours later,” Hawaiian Humane Society wrote on their social media.
Her owners tried to lure her out, but she was already so deep in the culvert that she didn’t realize it was getting smaller and smaller.
“Kila followed the chicken for several yards, not realizing that the culvert got narrower and narrower the further she went. That’s when she got stuck,” HHS wrote.
When her family realized that their loving dog was stuck, they immediately called 9-1-1.
The joint teams of Hawaiian Humane Society’s Field Services and Honolulu Fire Department responded within minutes and started what turned out to be a four-hour-long rescue.
Positive Outcome
The rescue team initially wanted to coax Kila out, but they soon changed their entire plan. The firefighters realized that the dog wouldn’t be able to go through the drain by herself, which is when they decided to start digging.
The strategy was to dig to reach the pipe and then cut it in order for Kila to get out safely. It took the team a few hours of continuous digging and monitoring to finally reach the dog, and finally, they succeeded!
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The whole mission was covered by HHS and it soon went viral.
“Mahalo to the incredible team at Honolulu Fire Department Waiʻanae Fire Station 26 for working tirelessly to rescue Kila,” the HHS team wrote.
Kila’s rescue made headlines all over the country, warming the hearts of thousands of people who were over the moon to see this Pittie on safe ground again.
“Huge Mahalo to those with such huge hearts! Thanks for your care and hard work in savings lives of all kinds,” one person wrote.
“Thank you for saving Kila! Grateful for your hard work and diligence for this and all you rescue,” another added.
After quite a traumatic experience for her family, Kila was successfully returned to where she belonged without any injuries, all thanks to her hero rescuers.
She literally acted as if nothing harrowing happened, and immediately started wagging her tail, happy to be back with her owners.
Kila’s rescue is yet another piece of evidence that kindness is still alive within humanity. Thanks to her incredible community, this Pittie can embark on many more adventures with her loved ones… this time, hopefully, on a leash!
