Firefighters Honored for Dog Rescue

They don’t call them weiner dogs for nothing.

It was Candy’s skinny and long frame that got her in some perilous trouble on July 15.

Being a dachshund, Candy has an instilled desire to dig after creatures like groundhogs and badgers; Dachshund is in fact German for “badger hound.”

Laureen Giampa’s daughter had just let out Candy and her fatter companion outside, when she witnessed the duo chase after a groundhog.

“We had some groundhogs, apparently some very large ones that everyone in the neighborhood was talking about,” said Giampa. “I’m the only one that didn’t see them.”

The groundhog ducked into its underground burrow – and Candy followed right behind.

“Fortunately, for the other one, she’s too fat to fit in the hole,” said Giampa. “Candy is a little lean and was able to fit in and get herself stuck in there.”

Panic set in. The family members could hear Candy’s frightful cries in the hole from eight feet underground.

“We thought had (my daughter) not been there to witness where (Candy) was, we would have called for hours and never known what happened to her,” Giampa said.

When Giampa’s husband and a representative from Ark Animal Hospital did as much as they could do to save Candy, Laureen made a desperate and frantic call to .

Talk about a dog day afternoon.

“It was an unusual call,” said Captain Frank Colelli. “I told her we can’t guarantee anything, but we would do our best.”

Their best was a success – after digging down three feet, firefighter Todd Kulp reached his hand into the hole and pulled Candy to freedom.

“They have young kids too,” Giampa said, “so they can appreciate how much our young pets mean to us.”

Colelli, Kulp and firefighter Jeffrey Tomczak were commended Monday by Montgomery Township supervisors for their assistance in rescuing Candy.

“Anyone with pets can sympathize how traumatic this event must have been,” said Montgomery Township Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak. “After about an hour of trying to coax Candy out of the hole and working with a representative from Ark Animal Hospital, Mrs. Giampa called the firehouse looking for additional help.”

“These firefighters were able to use their knowledge, training and equipment carried on Squad 18 to successfully rescue Candy from the hole,” Lesniak said.

Giampa said the trio were there to witness her tears of joy, and to witness her tears of sorrow when she was concerned about her pet.

“If the outcome was different, it would be very traumatic for the children and for me,” she said. “This is my little sleepmate; she keeps my feet warm at night. I don’t know what I would have done without her.”

It seems the cliché of firefighters rescuing a cat in a tree has been turned around entirely.

“I will try and refrain from calling you when my cat gets stuck up in a tree,” she said, to the laughter of the board. “We thank you very much for saving her life.”