Wade Deisman thought his neighbour got a new puppy.
Little did he know, at the time, that he would soon be involved in a rescue mission.
Deisman, who recently moved to White Rock from Abbotsford where he owned a hobby farm, was accustomed to the sound animals nearby.
But even still, the constant bark was starting to get on his nerves.
In an interview with Peace Arch News on Sunday, Deisman said he went outside of his house on Friday to figure out where the bark was coming from. He checked his neighbours yard.
鈥淏ut I couldn鈥檛 see where they put the kennel,鈥� Deisman said.
Saturday morning came, and Deisman could still hear the dog barking.
鈥淚 remember thinking to myself, jeez, the neighbours, even if they have a puppy, they need to take better care of the puppy. The puppy sounds miserable.鈥�
Deisman went outside to investigate again, but wasn鈥檛 able to locate the puppy. While he was outside, the barking went silent. Deisman went back into his house, and later that day, the barking returned.
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鈥淚 decided to be a little bit bolder in terms of looking at my neighbours yard. I couldn鈥檛 see a puppy anywhere, and I really thought it was a puppy at this point,鈥� Deisman said.
However, while he was outside, this time, the dog barked.
鈥淚 was like hey, that鈥檚 not coming from the neighbours鈥� that sounded like it was actually coming from my house,鈥� Deisman said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 really weird.鈥�
Deisman went to his backyard deck and the dog barked a second time.
鈥淪hivers went right through me,鈥� Deisman said. 鈥淭hat came from right beneath me.鈥�
Almost immediately, Deisman said he felt a wave of adrenaline.
鈥淭his is a different situation than I thought it was. Suddenly, I thought this may not be a case of a puppy next door, this may be a case of a dog trapped.鈥�
Deisman crawled underneath his deck to look for the dog.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 see anything. There鈥檚 no dog trapped here or anything.鈥�
Underneath his deck, there was a little enclosure at the top of a muddy climb. Deisman tried to get to the enclosure, but it was a tight fit.
鈥淚 was on my belly, literally dragging myself up to see.鈥�
In a panic, Deisman got a shovel and dug his way to the enclosure.
鈥淚 spent like 15 minutes making enough of a pathway,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then I tried to climb up there again and I almost got stuck. So I backed off and told myself to calm down.鈥�
He eventually grabbed a crowbar.
鈥淚 pried off one long deck piece and I could see that there was an enclosure there and it was quite deep. And it鈥檚 a well.鈥�
But still, Deisman couldn鈥檛 see a dog.
鈥淪o I took off three or four more. And finally I can see just some fur of the dog, but it was pretty dark. I just turned on my flashlight on my iPhone and looked down there and there鈥檚 the dog.鈥�
Deisman said the dog was inside a well that was about four-feet deep. The deck joists prevented Deisman from accessing the animal.
鈥淎t this point, honestly, I was feeling so worried and scared for the dog,鈥� he said, adding that he threw some chicken to the animal.
Deisman grabbed a saw and cut through the joists. He brought the animal, which wasn鈥檛 a puppy, rather a senior cairn terrier, into his house.
The dog鈥檚 tag had a City of White Rock identification number, but no other details that might help him locate the owner.
He checked Craigslist.
鈥淭he second entry on Craigslist, White Rock Dog Missing. I pulled it up, and sure enough, that was the dog. There was a picture right there.鈥�
Deisman called the owners, Tim and Yvonne Everson, and told him he located their dog.
鈥淭hey both just broke into tears. I鈥檝e got a couple pictures of Tim with his head against the dog. Just snuggling right at that moment when they first saw each other,鈥� Deisman said
Diesman brought Tim and Yvonne to his backyard to show them where the dog was stuck.
鈥淭hey were just shocked.鈥�
Tim, who contacted Peace Arch News to share the story of the rescue, said it鈥檚 likely his 10-year-old cairn terrier, Callie, was either chased into the well by a raccoon or tried to catch a pest. Cairn terriers, he explained, are known to hunt rats.
Tim said Callie escaped their backyard on Thursday night at about 6 p.m. The dog was discovered 43 hours after she went missing. The Everson鈥檚 live in the same neighbourhood as Deisman.
鈥淗e phoned us yesterday afternoon around 2 and said I think I have your dog. And we just went nuts. It was great,鈥� Tim said.
The Everson鈥檚 offered Deisman reward, but he declined.
鈥淚 told them I鈥檝e been so happy to be living in White Rock and I met so many nice people. I鈥檓 just honoured to be part of the neighbourhood. So, just a Good Samaritan act by a neighbour,鈥� Deisman said.
aaron.hinks@peacearchnews.com
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