Durban – A litter of puppies fell down a manhole on Estuary Drive in the Riverview area of Verulam in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said the owner of the dog contacted Rusa at about 5.39 pm.
Balram said the owner reported that their dog gave birth and her litter fell about into the drain.
“Reaction officers removed the cover, climbed down the shaft and rescued five puppies,” he said.
Balram said the puppies were not injured.
In pictures supplied by Rusa, the mother of the pups can be seen waiting for the pups to be rescued from the manhole.
In a separate incident, the Pietermaritzburg SPCA said in a statement on Tuesday that the Inspectorate was alerted to a kitten stuck in a drain pipe.
The SPCA said trainee Inspector Wandile Xaba went to see how they could assist.
“Food was put down to try and coax the kitten out which didn’t work and as other attempts were made to reach the kitten, it moved further back. The only thing left to do was to dig until the pipe was visible and then try to reach the kitten from there.”
The SPCA said the SPCA officials as well as members of the family to which the kitten belonged to, got to work digging, chipping and breaking away until eventually the kitten was rescued.
“The little one was covered in mud and scared but unharmed and happily reunited with its family.”
