RACQ officer saves dog caught in drain

A bull mastiff dog is lucky to be alive after a passing RACQ officer swam through waist-deep water to rescue it. It comes as another owner hires a pet detective to solve a mystery.

An elderly dog stuck in a Brisbane storm water drain is lucky to be alive thanks to a RACQ officer who swam through waist-deep water to save it.

Kris Guerrero went above and beyond the call of duty to save the large bull mastiff cross, stuck in a drain at Greenslopes on Tuesday morning.

It’s believed the dog took refuge in the drain at Thompson Estate Reserve following a fierce storm which ripped through Brisbane the night before.

RACQ patrol driver Kris Guerrero rescued a bull mastiff cross from a storm water drain.

Mr Guerrero, of Doolandella in Brisbane’s outer west, started his shift and went to the park to wipe his truck down while waiting for his first job.

“While I was cleaning my truck a lady came up to me and asked for help,” he said.

“She pointed out a dog in the storm water drain, it looked like he’d been walking for a while and his back legs were collapsing.

“The drain was too steep and the doggo was too heavy for me to lift out. So, I walked with him to a shallower part of the drain and because he was really weak and old, I had to lift his front end up and then push him onto the footpath”.

The bull mastiff cross after the rescue.

Mr Guerrero waited with the dog for about 45 minutes until an animal ambulance arrived.

“I just wanted to get the poor doggo out of there. I’m definitely an animal lover and I’ve got a little dog of my own. If it was my dog or any animal really in distress, I hope someone else would do the same and help them,” he said.

“The vet nurse said if no one had seen him and rescued him, he would’ve eventually collapsed and died because he was too weak to climb out of the drain himself.

“I hope the RSPCA can find his owners, I’m sure he’s missed.”

Mr Guerrero said after saving the dog he went home to shower and change his clothes because he “smelled like wet dog and drain water”.

Brisbane Animal Ambulance driver Irene Linning was called to assist in the rescue however due to a major traffic incident was significantly delayed.

Ms Linning said Mr Guerrero waded 100m along a “very deep drain” to rescue the dog.

He was up to his waist in water,” Ms Linning said.

“I haven’t seen anything like this. Kris was so humble and down to earth, and the dog was lovely and is surely being missed by someone.”

“I told Kris he was a hero, and that not many people would do what he’s done.”

RSPCA Queensland media spokesman Michael Beatty hoped the pooch could be reunited with its owner soon.

The storm water drain at Greenslopes.

“He’s an older dog and he’s not emaciated. He doesn’t have a microchip – that’s the problem,” Mr Beatty said.

Mr Beatty encouraged pet owners to microchip their animals and keep them in safe during storms.

Meanwhile Graceville’s Diane Mill has hired a pet detective in a desperate search to find her rescue dog Bonnie, who escaped during a wild storm on February 22.

Ms Mill hired Arthur’s Pet Concierge and booked a thermal drone to search the Graceville/Sherwood area on Wednesday but it was cancelled due to rain.

“We have now rescheduled it for Saturday morning. We are hoping that Bonnie is in hiding due to the ferociousness of the storm terrorising her and that the drone will find her,” Ms Mill said.

Bonnie, 10, is desexed and microchipped.

Ms Mill said Bonnie had only recently started to get nervous around storms, though loud unexpected noises had always stressed her.

Bonnie the lost rescue dog at Graceville.

“We have had Bonnie with us for almost eight years. She was trained as a pig dog by someone in western Queensland who wasn’t very nice to her and Bonnie was taken from them and after another couple of owners she came to live with us,” she said.

“We have worked really hard with her over the years to make her feel safe and loved. She has a very gentle loving nature and we adore her. Bonnie will be very wary of strangers, especially men.”

Ms Mill said on the night of the storm their gates were locked.

“She was so frightened that she escaped over the top of our 5ft (1.5m) fence. We were asleep and woke at the first loud crack of thunder,” Ms Mill said.

“My husband jumped up and went to let her inside but she had already gone. She would have been out in the thick of the storm and would have been very frightened due to the loudness of the thunder and the cracks of lightning. She has escaped a couple of times before – always because something has frightened her unexpectedly”.

Bonnie the lost rescue dog at Graceville.

Bonnie has a black collar with a name tag – a white circle with a red heart in the middle. Her name Bonnie is on the back along with Ms Mill’s mobile number.

Ms Mill is desperate to get Bonnie back.

“We only had to euthanise our other little dog Boo three weeks ago due to old age and illness (she was almost 18). We were so sad at having to make that decision, even though it was the best decision for Boo, and to have Bonnie go missing less than two weeks later has been heartbreaking”.

Anyone with information about Bonnie can email [e-mail]