MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A dog has Memphis Animal Services (MAS) to thank for his new lease on life after officers rescued him from deep inside a processing pit at a meat plant.
The incredible rescue video was posted to MAS’s social media.
MAS got the call of a dog stuck about 12 feet down inside a meat processing pit Wednesday, and officers were on the scene at the plant near East Brooks Road and South Third Street in less than 30 minutes.
Officers said the 68-pound dog, now named McGregor, was completely out of energy by the time they arrived.
“He was just, he was done. He had given up at that point,” MAS officer Amanda Sutter told WREG. “We were his only chance to get him out.”
They said they’re unsure how long McGregor was inside the pit before he was noticed by staff at the plant, but with how tired he was, he had likely been trying to put himself out of the pit for a while.
McGregor could no longer help pull himself out, so an officer had to go down into the grimy, slimy meat processing pit. Only McGregor’s head and back legs were accessible for the officer.
The MAS officer was able to attach two 6-foot animal control poles together and then around the dog’s neck.
With one hand on the ladder and one hand on the poles attached to McGregor, the officer pulled the dog part of the way out of the pit, just enough for another officer to pull the rest of the way.
Once out of the meat pit, McGregor was covered in towels and put into the MAS truck.
“I knew he was exhausted, and I knew he wasn’t going to be able to make it out of there, so that’s when I started calling for some help,” said Tom Breen, who contacted MAS about the dog. “They did a fantastic job, and they know their stuff, that’s for sure. They were brave to get down into that nasty pit.”
McGregor now is a MAS and resting comfortably.
“We decided to name him McGregor after one of the most famous fighters we could think of at the time because he’s a fighter, and he deserves an honorable name,” Sutter said.
