A German shepherd was rescued by county firefighters Friday in a hoist operation after the dog was found trapped in the California Aqueduct in Palmdale.
Los Angeles County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue crews responded about 11:10 a.m. Friday to an area of East Barrel Springs Road and Pearblossom Highway, according to Battalion Chief Mark McCurdy.
When firefighters arrived, the dog was clinging to a steel girder that is part of a floodgate.
Video showed a search and rescue team hoist the animal from the water near the gate before it was placed in a Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control truck.
“A rescue like this can be significant, based on the moving water,” McCurdy said. “That’s going to be the biggest threat that we have, not only to the animal itself potentially having an issue or wanting to bite one of our crew members, but also for the fact that this water is moving creates danger for our rescuers as well.”
McCurdy said calls of trapped animals, both domestic and wild, as well as humans trapped in the aqueduct are relatively common.
“There are a lot of people who walk along the trails here, or we can have dogs, deer and unfortunately people who become trapped in the aqueduct,” he said.