A dog was recused Thursday from a collapsed house in a Seattle neighborhood ravaged by avalanches last week — six days after being presumed dead.
“It’s mommy,” a weeping and overjoyed Didi Fritts says over and over when a fireman emerges with her black lab Sammy from the leveled Magnolia home, footage shows.
“Oh my baby. My baby,” Fritts coos to her pet in the footage.
Fritts and her husband got their first glimmer of hope when eagle-eared neighbors heard a whimper from amid the rubble earlier in the day, according to KING 5.
“We [heard] a little cry this morning, and then didn’t hear anything when the fire department was here with the chainsaws,” family friend and neighbor Remy Olivier told the station.
The responders worked for hours to remove debris and bulldoze their way to the living room, where 3-year-old Sammy was last seen, according to the station.
The shaken dog perked up when she saw her owner, licking her face in the emotional reunion, which was captured on camera by the outlet.
Vets examined the dog and the fire department said she was in stable condition after being trapped in the disaster scene for six days.
“We took apart the entire floor, pulled her out and she had just enough room to survive so she wasn’t crushed … I guess she was surviving on rain water the past couple days,” Oliver theorized.
James and Didi Fritts survived the house collapse, but James, who was trapped inside, said one of the family’s dogs died, and Sammy was presumed to have also been killed.
The miraculous rescue — which entailed breaking through floors and walls — was precarious, officials said.
“Because of the landslide that happened last week it is not safe to enter the home so we are exercising extreme caution with our crews,” Seattle Fire Department Public Information Officer David Cuerpo told the station.