A dog that was reported missing over a year ago has been found alive in a drain pipe in Maryland and returned to a shelter.
The Wheaton Terrier known both as Cookie and Mai Tai had only recently been rescued from the dog-meat trade in Thailand when he went missing in his new country in October 2014.
It took three hours for firefighters and animal services to successfully rescue the 30-pound dog, who was so scared he could not even be lured out of the pipe with food.
New York City resident Nick An was walking one of his relative’s Great Dane during a visit in Bethesda when the dog pulled him toward the storm drain and began to bark.
‘I went over and I just saw a dog in there,’ An told WJLA
Cookie was dirty but found to be in good health and was not malnourished when he was rescued.
Cookie was first found by this Great Dane.
The dog was also still wearing his collar and tags from when he was lost in Kensington in 2014.
Firefighters were able to nudge Cookie by duct taping a large ball of towels to a fire hose and slowly pushing it into one side of the pipe and thus forcing him out of the other.
The shelter said Cookie was turned over ‘for his safety’ and that the dog has since been moved to a foster home while a permanent placement is searched for.
Read More: Dog named ‘Cookie’ missing for a year, rescued from drain pipe
