Dog rescued after falling down a well on Vancouver Island

Tiny dog rescued from well on Vancouver Island A tiny pooch has been pulled to safety from a well on Vancouver Island.

Vancouver — Mini is a very lucky dog.

The chihuahua mix fell roughly 20 feet down a well Saturday and needed the help of the Oyster River Volunteer Fire Department to get out.

Fire Chief Bruce Green told CTV News Vancouver Island the dog's owner reported that Mini had falling through some old boards that were on top of the well and landed in about three feet of water at the bottom.

Luckily for Mini, there was a piece of wood floating in the well, which the tiny animal was able to climb onto while crews worked to get him out.

Video of the rescue shows the dog happily climbing into his rescuer's arms.

Green said the rescue was fairly straightforward once crews determined they could safely lower a ladder down the well.

"We wanted to make sure the scene was safe, so we lowered our gas tech down just to make sure there was enough oxygen down there for our member to go down," he said. "Once we determined it was safe, we had him on a tether and he climbed down the ladder and brought the dog back up."

Soaking wet, but back on solid ground, Mini appeared to be walking with a limp.

One of the volunteer firefighters, who is also a veterinary technician, checked the dog out. He was then taken to a local animal hospital for a closer look.

"That's the nice part about having a volunteer fire department," Green said. "We have experts in many fields that are on the hall, so this is the second or third time we've used her to help us with animals that were injured."