Dog rescued after 24 hours lodged in pipe near West Chicago

A message to all you dogs out there: Chasing squirrels can land you in a real pack of trouble.

A Bartlett beagle named Layla recently learned that lesson the hard way after she bolted from her owner to pursue a pesky squirrel that was teasing her.

The squirrel escaped, but Layla - all 50 pounds of her - wound up lodged in an underground concrete culvert pipe in front of the Roger's Flooring store at 27W743 St. Charles Road near West Chicago.

The 4-year-old pooch was trapped and alone for nearly 24 hours before being rescued by Carol Stream firefighters, who had to cut her free.

Bartlett resident Sandra Dyer says she was walking her two dogs around 2 p.m. New Year's Day near Sonny Acres Farm in West Chicago when Layla, who was off her leash, suddenly bolted.

"Really, she was only about 50 yards away from me when the woody terrain caused me to lose sight of her," Dyer said. "I searched all day Thursday and Friday. I knew she must have been stuck somewhere because how else could she have gotten out of my sight so fast?"

Dyer said she scoured every inch of the area near North Avenue and St. Charles Road, even getting down and looking into some of the culverts, but she saw no sign of Layla.

On Friday afternoon she was back searching when she saw a garbage truck preparing to haul away a large garbage bin from the flooring store. She ran to ask the driver if he had seen Layla or if there was a possibility her dog could have gotten into the garbage.

"As I was talking to the garbage man, I heard barking underneath me," Dyer said. "I ran into the store and we got flashlights and looked into the culvert, and I could see her butt wriggling and her tail wagging."

She said she thinks the vibrations from the truck startled Layla, causing her to bark.

Dyer said she then ran into the DuWayne Animal Clinic at 27W751 St. Charles Road, which also happens to be Layla's vet's office, and told them Layla was trapped in the concrete pipe.

Carol Stream Fire Batallion Chief John Bellandi and his crew arrived about 2:20 p.m. and used a probe and tape measure to determine how far Lala had gotten into the pipe.

"We dug the dirt from around the pipe and measured about 12 feet in, about two feet behind the dog, and then we cut through the concrete," Bellandi said. "Once we got the pipe cut, one of our guys was able to grab her hind legs and pull her out.

"Between the pipe and the mud that had accumulated around her, she was pinned in there pretty good. This was her lucky day, that's for sure."

Dyer said Layla was shaken up and treated for dehydration, but otherwise she is doing fine and resting.

Chris Appell, an employee at Roger's Flooring, witnessed the rescue.

"It was a pretty drawn-out attempt to save that dog," he said. "It was great of those firefighters to do it. They wasted no time jumping in there and getting to work."

As a thank you, Dyer said she's buying sub sandwiches for everyone on the fire department crew that rescued Layla.

"I know they can't take money, so the least I can do is feed them," she said.