HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - Cheers of joy erupted early Saturday morning when a puppy's 31-hour-long ordeal came to a happy end.
Rescue efforts for a deaf 7-week-old puppy named Toffee were successful after she fell into a 50-foot hole outside her foster family's home in south Huntsville around 5 p.m. Thursday while playing with the family. Her foster mother was not aware of the hole and watched in shock as Toffee fell in.
After multiple failed attempts, rescue crews were finally able to lure her into a net by using sardines.
She emerged from the hole in perfect health.
Toffee survived the 50-foot fall into the rocky crevice unharmed. Since then, volunteers, rescue crews and fire officials tried numerous rigs and nets to try to get out safely. They came close Thursday afternoon when they got two of her paws into a net but could not get her entire body in the rig.
Adding to the difficulty was the fact that Toffee is deaf and that her eyes are not completely open due to her young age. Rescue crews kept her fed and had eyes on her the entire time through a camera lowered into the hole.
Toffee is a 7-week-old Australian Shepherd mix. She and her siblings were rescued in Blount Co., Ala., and brought to the foster family through the rescue group A New Leash on Life. The same rescue group coordinated the rescue.
Toffee's plight has attracted national media attention as people across the nation offered well wishes, prayers and even offered to come to Huntsville to help with the rescue.
Read more at WAFF's website.
