Overview
- Emergency teams located the Belgian Shepherd about two to three metres inside a roughly 20-metre metal pipe near the toom-Baumarkt in Laubegast on Thursday and found that initial access from both ends was impossible.
- Firefighters and a Technisches Hilfswerk (THW) crew excavated the asphalt above the pipe, used a blower to supply fresh air into the tube, and then opened the last metres by hand to free the dog around 13:30.
- The dog, named Mara and described by her owner as shy and closely attached, was reunited with her owner and checked by a veterinarian with only minor scratches reported.
- Rescuers later discovered a badger in the pipe as well, and local reports put the response at about 20 personnel working together from Feuerwehr Dresden, the THW and the police.
- The operation highlights how Germany’s THW provides heavy technical support for complex subterranean rescues and why forced ventilation and careful excavation are used to protect trapped animals from hypoxia and injury.