Dog stuck in drainpipe for hours rescued overnight

It’s a heart-stopping story with a happy ending.

A dog stuck in a drainpipe in Irving for several hours was rescued and reunited with its family overnight just before the Fourth of July holiday. The dog’s owner, Taylor Tousley, said minutes turned to hours as panic set in.

She met with an NBC 5 crew at the site of the rescue, Canyon Ranch Elementary School, to explain how the events unfolded.

“This is where it happened. She was actually barking from this hole right here, through this hole where we pulled this grate up,” Tousley said. “I was sitting here the whole time kind of up against this wall just crying out to her.”

RooRoo, Tousley’s senior rescue dog, had escaped from the fence at their house the night before. During the search, a family friend heard RooRoo barking, and it was coming from a drainpipe. She had fallen into a storm drain near the elementary school across the street from their house. After falling in, RooRoo walked down the pipeline until she became stuck.

Tousley explained the moment a friend told her she heard barking coming from the pipeline.

“She says she hears her barking down this big hole near the school. So, I run down and hear my dog down this big hole,” said Tousley. “I was mortified that she was down there.”

Tousley tried comforting her dog, who, by that point, was also in distress.

“RooRoo we’re going to get you out. It’s OK. I’m here. We’re coming for you. I promise we’re not going to stop until someone gets you out,” said Tousley, explaining how she tried to comfort RooRoo.

Tousely called Irving Fire Rescue and turned to social media hoping anyone would come help. Irving Fire and other city crews arrived and started digging for what became a nearly 12-hour rescue mission.

“She would bark and then cry like ‘I can’t get anywhere,’” Tousley said. “I think she was starting to lose hope that we were going to find her and get her out too.”

In the middle of the night, after all the digging, Rooroo was finally free.

“I’m just so happy she’s alive,” she said. “I mean, she’s old, I just couldn’t bear to let her die down there like that. Nobody deserves that. Even if you’re a dog.”

Tousley said friends, family and social media followers had arrived at the scene to encourage her during the rescue process.

“I really do thank everybody who showed up, who persevered for hours,” she said. “I just couldn’t thank all of y’all enough.”

The following day, Tousley said RooRoo was tired after the long night. But she’s back where she belongs; with her family to live out the rest of her days.

Irving Fire Rescue said its crews teamed up with Water Utilities to excavate the location where RooRoo was stuck and pull her out.