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Dog stuck behind wall for 5 days rescued, returned home

Gertie rescue
Posted at 9:52 AM, Jul 19, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-19 14:56:58-04

CINCINNATI — Gertie, the dog, was missing for five days before firefighters with the Cincinnati Fire Department found her wedged tightly between two concrete walls.

For five days, Gertie's owners plastered posters bearing the pup's image and description throughout the Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati, believing she'd been taken in by neighbors or had hunkered down somewhere safe.

"She fell through a roof of a hillside garage that was very dilapidated," said Connie Frick, Gertie's owner. "From what they could explain to us, she fell through the roof, and whatever had been an old wall was replaced with a cinder block wall, which was keeping it from falling down. She was caught in between the two."

Firefighters said they couldn't lift Gertie, the 35-pound white terrier mix, out from the crevice without intervention. So they busted out the saws and sledgehammers and got to work.

After 10 minutes of using a sledgehammer, firefighter Jenn Adkins reached in and pulled Gertie to safety.

Firefighters believe Gertie was stuck in that crevice during the entire five days she was missing from home.

The reunion between Gertie and her owners was special, not just for Frick.

"She was so excited," said Frick. "Everybody was loving on her. The firefighters were so happy."

Watch the full rescue and reunion below:

This story was originally published by Kendria Lafleur and Madeline Fening on Scripps station WCPO in Cincinnati.