Dogs rescued from sewer

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. Workers at Alamp Concrete in Schaumburg were worried someone had taken their dogs, Trixi and Bosco. But on Monday, someone heard Trixi crying in the sewer. They knew Bosco couldn't be far behind because the dogs are so close.

A camera guided rescuers to the dogs. They were then pulled to safety.

No one is sure how the dogs got into the sewer in the first place.

Rescuers had to tear up a driveway to gain access to the trapped Rottweilers.

Trixi and Bosco hadn't seen sunshine for 11 days.

"I feel very happy today because they're back, they're safe and they will get better," said owner Tracy Lampignano.

Tracy, Trixi and Bosco have a lot of people to thank. On Monday, a truck driver for the family business stopped his rig right next to a manhole cover. That's when he heard a dog's cry and remembered the two Rottweilers who went missing nearly two weeks earlier.

"We called a vendor who does sewer televising, and they dropped a camera robot into the sewer and literally three minutes later found him. The next question was, how are we going to get to him?" said Lampignano.

The cavalry came to the rescue of the two Rotts, and they didn't let a lot of rain slow their efforts. The dogs were at least six feet down. Reaching Trixi was relatively easy. But Bosco was more than 200 feet into the pipe. They could see him on camera.

Bosco looked scared and hungry, and it was going to be a few hours before the right equipment arrived to dig up the driveway.

"We got a great idea: Let's send the robot back with a bologna sandwich. So we taped it onto the camera and sent it in there. We could see the dog was excited; you could see him eating the sandwich!" said one rescuer, Mike Jereb.

Five hours in, Bosco was out. On Tuesday, the dogs' owners estimate the rescue caused $10,000 - 20,000 in damage to their property. They think the dogs followed each other into the sewer through an inlet.

The fact so many were willing to go in after them -- warmed everyone's heart on a cool, damp day.

"Those guys dove right in. A sewer line is not a great place, but they were more than willing to help. And we had a great outcome," said Jereb.

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