Dog Gone! Pooch Needs Rescue After Being Stuck Between 2 Walls

CATHEDRAL CITY (CBS) — They call it crawl space for a reason. You're not supposed to go walking around in it. But tell that to a 4-year-old Shar-Pei who didn't know any better.

The dog found itself wedged between the walls of two properties in Cathedral City Friday and had to be rescued by county animal services personnel.

The pooch was dehydrated but otherwise no worse for wear after his ordeal.

"He is very nice, very friendly," said John Welsh, public information chief for the Riverside County Department of Animal Services. "He's a little bit weak."

Animal Services responded this morning to a call of a dog barking and arrived to find the canine stuck in a 6-inch crawl space between two 6-foot-high walls.

"He must have chased a cat or a rabbit and as he got deeper, he got stuck," Welsh said. "He was really pinned in there."

Workers spent about 40 minutes knocking down one of the walls in the 33200 block of Rancho Vista Drive to free the animal, which was pulled to safety just after 2:30 p.m.

The wall was on property belonging to the Coachella Valley Water District, Welsh said.

It was unclear how long the animal may have been stuck.

"It could have been overnight," he said.

The dog was taken to the county's Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms.

"We're going to treat it like a stray and hope the owner comes forward and visits our shelter," Welsh said.

Animal Services has decided to name the pooch, what else?, Wally.

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