Some stories will make you tear up at first and then leave you confused and somewhat angry while also being filled with joy. A recent story out of Jefferson City about a dog being rescued from under a house is one of those stories.

The story of Angela Otiker and her two boxador dogs first appeared yesterday in the Jefferson City News Tribune. Kay Kay and Abby are seven-year old twin sisters that seem like pretty darn lovable dogs.

The story begins last Tuesday.

The freak accident occurred last Tuesday, when the twin dogs went out for a run and only Abby returned.

Notice that says “when the twin dogs went out for a run”, not “when the dogs were taken out for a run.”

Otiker and her 14-year-old daughter, Jada, thought Kay Kay might have been hit by a car. After a few days, they “kind of settled with the fact something bad happened.”

You two just settled on the fact that something happened after a few days? Did you call around? Did you go out looking for your missing dog?

Then, on Sunday, they heard Kay Kay’s cries for help. They were coming from underneath the house.

They contacted police, who sent a Jefferson City Animal Control officer. He determined Kay Kay had somehow managed to dig under a concrete slab at the front of the house, where a garage previously existed. She dug underground, all the way toward the center of the house.

So now you decide to call the police and Animal Control. I’m not really sure why you didn’t do that before. Wait, This is on Sunday. Your dog went missing on TUESDAY!

But the hole had collapsed behind her. “There’s no way you can get her out,” the officer told her. Next, she called local firefighters, who told her: “She’s too far back in there. I can’t send a man in there.” A general contractor came out next. “There’s nothing we can do,” he said.

“She (Kay Kay) was crying, and her sister was literally tearing up the carpet to get to her,” Angela Otiker said.

Oh hell no. I can pretty much guarantee you that if this happened to any of my inherited dogs that floor’s days would be numbered. Either a jackhammer is coming out or there will be a crew with claw hammers and power tools ripping up that floor.

Angela Otiker, the new principal at South Elementary School, returned to work on Monday, despondent.

Yea, almost a week later is a good time to be despondent. But, here’s where this story starts going uphill. Our hero comes into the picture.

She told her secretary, Taryn Trippensee, about the ordeal. That evening, Taryn’s husband, James, was at Otiker’s house with a shovel, hoe and flashlight, ready to make a last-ditch effort to save Kay Kay.

What’s the saying? Not all heroes wear capes? I guess sometimes they show up with a shovel, hoe and flashlight ready to save the day.

“He dug and dug and dug. He kept stabbing the shovel up in the gravel under the concrete. After about an hour, her nose came out and he pulled her out. Literally, this man saved my dog’s life last night. Her nose was all bloody and eyes are dirty, she had no food or water for days.”

This story makes very little sense. The firefighters said the dog was too far back to get to. A contractor said there was no hope. But a guy with simple garden tools, a flashlight and determination gets to the dog in an hour? He skipped Supergirl that night and used the time to save this dog no one else could?

Kay Kay was reunited with her family and her sister earlier this week. She had to go to the vet because she drank too much water to compensate for her near-death experience.

Thankfully this story have a happy ending. Hindsight is always 20/20, they say. It’s easy to say “Oh this would never happen to me” or “I would have done this, this and this.” That being said, you can still learn lessons from stories like this. Don’t let your dogs take “runs” unattended. There are way too many things that could go wrong. It’s dangerous for your dog and everyone else.

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