𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝟔𝟎-𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥

𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘺’𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘥, 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 “𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭” 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.

𝘈𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘬. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵-𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵.

And it took firefighters over four hours to finally get him out safely.

Indy, a 9-year-old retired K9, was playing with his furry sibling on a property in California when he unexpectedly fell into a deep hole right in front of their dad. Indy, the German Shepherd, had once been a member of an Arizona police force and was adopted by a retired service member.

Multiple fire crews, along with police, responded to the stressful scene.

The rescue crews attempted multiple different maneuvers, including sending down a number of different specialized hooks and lowering a lasso, but they seriously struggled to rescue him. Nothing was working, and poor Indy had to wait longer and longer.

“But because of the way the hole was, nothing was long enough to make it down. You couldn’t put any personnel down into that situation. You couldn’t put anybody down there. The ground was too unstable; there was no way to shore it up,” said Ken Gilden of the San Diego Humane Society Emergency Response Team.

Even Indy’s dad, who’s retired from the military, begged to be lowered into the hole. But rescue crews claimed that OSHA regulations wouldn’t allow him, or even a firefighter, to be put into the incredibly dangerous situation.

Crews were worried that the hole might cave-in from the recent rains that had been affecting their area. Plus, the hole that used to be a well didn’t go straight down, and complicated rescue efforts.

But finally, after four long hours, Indy was saved from this scary situation.

“And nothing was happening, and then right at the end, the dog lifted his head, and the firefighter who had the lasso was able to get it around his neck. And as soon as he did, they pulled it tight, and we just brought him right up,” said Ken.

Indy was alive and alert when he was rescued, but he did sustain some injuries, including some cuts and bruises that will require multiple trips to his vet to properly treat. Luckily, his doting dad will be there to spoil him as he heals.

When interviewed, the owner of the property where Indy and his sibling were playing said he was unaware of the deep, dangerous hole. After all, it was covered in overgrown weeds and vines.

You can watch the moment the fire crew finally rescues Indy from the 60-foot hole, below.