The Civil Guard rescues two dogs in an irrigation swamp in Totana

The Civil Guard of the Region of Murcia has rescued two dogs from an irrigation swamp in Totana, where they may have died due to starvation and extreme fatigue, as well as the impossibility of leaving the raft alone.

The events took place in the municipality of Totana, when Seprona civil guards were carrying out a series of checks on a farm and detected that two dogs of great size and weight were found at the bottom of a large reservoir intended for irrigation.

The dogs were on the edge of the line that delimited the water level of the swamp, among a few shrubby plants that were there, struggling to get out of the water repeatedly and trying to climb the slope of the reservoir, but that same slope, Being lined with PVC for its correct waterproofing and cancellation of leaks, it made its exit unfeasible.

The fact that both animals had their bodies wet from multiple attempts to escape, added to the slipperiness of the PVC, made it impossible for them to climb the slope of the swamp to get to safety.

The civil guards, who quickly verified the impossibility of leaving the swamp, with the greatest possible haste and with the help of a rope that they carried in the official vehicle, began the rescue maneuvers for the dogs, but at that moment they verified that the length of the the available rope was insufficient due to the great distance from the edge of the safe upper part of the swamp to the place where the animals were, since the level of dammed water was low and it was a large capacity swamp.

One of the Seprona patrol officers carried out a series of steps with the residents of the area to find another rope and join it to the first, but due to the lack of time available, the other civil guard of the patrol went to the headquarters of Civil Protection of Totana, where he requested two more long ropes and a rescue float from the staff of that unit.

With the optimal material, the civil guards, in the company of an operator from the Irrigation Community of the Tagus-Segura Transfer, who was in the area near the reservoir, began the rescue of the dogs. One of the agents and the Irrigation Community operator went down to the bottom of the swamp, while the other civil guard remained up on its upper edge, in order to secure the ropes and be able to pull the animals.

Once at the bottom they verified that they were two dogs of the mastiff breed, a male and a female of great weight, which showed a state of extreme anxiety, given their situation, so during the rescue maneuvers they needed to induce calm. based on tokens of affection. It was then that the extraction work began, with great difficulty due to the non-cooperation of the animals due to their state of fatigue.

At first, the male was firmly tied and he proceeded to pull from above, also being helped from inside the swamp, since the specimen would weigh around 60 kilograms, keeping the rope firm since he offered all possible resistance and tried to break. the rope based on bites, putting all kinds of obstacles with movements and jumps to try to get rid of it. Once the male was extracted from the swamp, the maneuver was repeated with the female, which offered less resistance than the latter.

Already in a safe area outside the swamp, the civil guards verified the possible implantation of the obligatory microchips in the dogs, to initiate their return to the owner, without obtaining any reading, so they did not have identification that would make the expressed return viable. Once rescued and the lack of a microchip was verified, the male bit the restraining rope and escaped. The female was in the custody of the company dedicated to the services of removal and control of abandoned animals.