“It really is a miracle that God gave me back Lucy right before her birthday, and if she could talk, we’d be able to write a book about it,” Rebecca Felix, the 4-year-old miniature Dachshund’s dog mom, told the Wichita Eagle today.
Earlier this month, Felix left her home in Derby, Kansas, to take care of an ill family member. Her husband stayed at home with Lucy and Thor, their Jack Russell Terrier/Chihuahua mix.
When her husband came home from work April 3, Lucy was nowhere to be found. There were no holes under the fence through which Lucy could have escaped.
“I was devastated,” Felix told the Wichita Eagle. “Our assumption was that she got out, but we couldn’t find anywhere where she could have gotten out.”
For 10 days, the couple circled their yard, calling Lucy’s name but getting no response. Then Thor began leading them to the air-conditioning unit on the side of the house. The couple couldn’t figure out why.
Three days later, they heard a soft bark coming from under the concrete slab supporting the unit. When Felix’s husband played a dog-whistle app on his phone, they heard another weak bark.
Digging under the slab, Felix’s husband was able to see Lucy’s nose. She opened her eyes when he called her name.
The Dachshund had dug under the house, and then had somehow managed to dig a 4-foot tunnel before she became stuck under the concrete slab.
Firefighters and police officers soon arrived and were able to pull Lucy out. Veterinarians at a local animal emergency hospital said she was dehydrated and starved, and had severe corneal ulceration due to all the dirt that had been in her eyes. She was fed chicken and rice, which she ate “ravenously,” according to the Wichita Eagle.
Lucy is recovering and being treated by vets at Rainbow Valley Veterinary Clinic. “We can’t believe there was no organ failure,” Dr. Kelly Miller told the Wichita Eagle. “Fourteen days without water, you expect the kidneys to have not survived through that. She somehow managed to make it. It’s amazing.”
Felix agrees. “It had to be divine intervention,” she told the Wichita Eagle.
Photo via Twitter