Police Free Elderly Dog From Sink Hole

It was just after noon Wednesday when Vienna Police got the call about J.R.

A neighbor taking a walk in the area reported that J.R., an elderly dog they recognized, appeared to have fallen into a sink hole near a drainage pipe opening on Walker Street S.W.  -- he was trapped and couldn't get out.

The sink hole was at the edge of J.R.'s property line, said Vienna Police Officer Bill Murray. Officers guessed he had been digging in the yard when the back of his hind legs and body sank about four feet into the hole. When he tried to dig himself out, he only sank deeper.

"This is a rarity," Murray said. "We recover a lot of stray dogs but don't often have to rescue them."

Four officers, along with three employees from Parks and Recreation, responded and began removing dirt around the dog -- a turn of events J.R. was not happy about. His rescuers wore gloves to protect them from bites as they made progress.

When he was freed J.R. could use his front legs, but "his back legs just weren't working at all," Murray said.

At that point, J.R. "realized what [officers] were trying to do" and was calm as he was loaded onto dog stretcher before taking him to the Hope Center.

Late Wednesday night, Murray heard J.R. was back at home running around his yard -- an impressive feat just hours after he couldn't use his hind legs at all.

"Whatever treatment they gave him worked," Murray said.