Thanks to Kentucky Troopers, Dachshund Rescued from Tree Trunk

It’s not that unusual for firefighters to rescue cats who become stuck in trees, but yesterday they met the challenge of freeing a Dachshund stuck inside a tree trunk in Salem, Ky.

Apparently little Rocco had managed to get inside the tree via a groundhog hole.

He’d probably still be stuck there if two off-duty Kentucky State Troopers hadn’t heard his barks as they mowed the lawn at a nearby cemetery.

Sergeant Michael Williams and Trooper Gerick Sullivan searched a wooded area until they spotted Rocco sticking his head out of his strange location. Unable to free the Doxie themselves, they called the Salem Fire Department.

Firefighter Daniel Newcomb carefully cut out part of the tree so Rocco could be removed from it and reunited with his grateful owner. The tree opening was also made larger just in case another dog ever found themselves in the same predicament.

“That’s awesome,” wrote Scott Allen Bacon in a comment on the Kentucky State Police Facebook page. “Guessing it wasn’t a…dogwood tree?”

“Never seen a tree with so much bark…?,” wrote Sophie Bourdeau.

Hats off to Williams, Sullivan and Newcomb for saving Rocco. I’m betting that little Dachshund won’t be going anywhere near another groundhog hole for a long, long time.

And speaking of dogs stuck in trees, last year rescuers saved Kora, a 120-pound Great Dane who’d managed to climb 20 feet (!) up a tree in Nebraska.

Photo via Kentucky State Police Facebook page