A video of a woman pleading for help after her dog ended up trapped in a storm drain went viral on TikTok. She says the firefighters refused to help.
TikTok user Vickey, known as @compassionatecameron, shared a distressing video on July 4, capturing the moment near Canyon Valley Ranch Elementary School in Irving, Texas. In the video, she says: “Hey, y’all. So my dog is stuck in this storm drain. I need help. … It’s been happening since this morning. She got out last night, fell in a storm drain, and we didn’t know. She crawled all the way down to this school.”
“The fire department has refused to help. They basically, essentially told us to leave her there to die,” Vickey says.
She further states, “They came, showed up personally, handed me a flashlight to go in the sewer myself and look for her.”
@compassionatecameron JESUS SEND THE RIGHT PEOPLE PLEASE HELP. My dog is in a storm drain and the fire department refuses to help.
♬ original sound – Vickey
The video, which amassed over 1.6 million views, sparked outrage and an outpouring of support from the TikTok community who shared their suggestions in the comments section.
“Call the news they’ll do something,” one commenter wrote.
Several other commenters offered to personally go to the scene and help.
A 12-hour rescue mission
A day later, Vickey posted a follow-up video, this time with a vastly different scene. The familiar storm drain location was transformed. In this video, there is an excavator on site, a sizable hole in the ground, and a crowd of people gathered around it. Firefighters and city crews worked tirelessly in a 12-hour rescue mission. The video captures the moment when a rescuer pulls the dog out of the drainpipe to the cheers of onlookers.
According to a local news report, the Irving Fire Department collaborated with the city’s water utilities unit in the extensive excavation effort. The joint operation successfully freed the dog from the drainpipe.
In a statement to local news, Irving Fire Rescue confirmed the collaborative effort. “Our crews teamed up with Water Utilities to excavate the location where [the dog] was stuck and pull her out,” they shared.
Since the stressful experience, the dog has reportedly recovered and appears to be in stable condition.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Vickey via TikTok comment and to the Irving Fire Department via email.
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