There’s a long history of firefighting in Colorado Springs, tracing back to the city’s origins in the 1800s. With over a century of experience, the fire department and its brave staff have probably seen it all. But they encountered something that shocked them one March day in 2018.

It all started with a seemingly normal call for animal rescue services. With their scope of assistance expanding to responding to these kinds of non-fire emergencies, the responders were likely expecting to see the usual pet cat stuck in the tree. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

Another Day, Not Just Another Call For Rescue

For starters, the call didn’t involve any cats this time. It was actually for a litter of pups stuck in a storm drain. Seeing that their mother was nowhere to be found, you’d understand why the caller would get the local fire department involved.

March is typically the start of spring in Colorado, but it isn’t unheard of for the state to get the occasional snowfall around this time. There’s also the possibility of rainfall, which could mean disaster for the defenseless pups lying where rainwater is meant to drain.

They Weren’t Dogs At All