Firefighters Rescue “Puppies” From Storm Drain—But They Weren’t Puppies At All
One day in Colorado Springs, a passerby spotted tiny creatures trapped inside a storm drain. Concerned, they called the fire department, hoping someone could help. Calls like this are nothing unusual for firefighters, who are often called upon to rescue animals in distress. Within minutes, a crew arrived, prepared to save what they believed to be a litter of abandoned puppies.
At first, everything seemed straightforward. The team carefully pulled out eight tiny, dark-furred babies. With no mother dog in sight, the firefighters assumed this was another sad case of puppy dumping. Fire Captain Brian Vaughan explained later, “They simply thought these were newborn black Labrador Retriever puppies and were actually worried about this case of dog dumping.” Wanting to give them the best chance at survival, they rushed the babies to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region.
That’s when everything changed.
The shelter’s vet took one look and broke the news: these weren’t puppies at all. They were baby red foxes. The firefighter who carried them in was stunned. The mix-up, however, was easy to understand. At such a young age, fox kits have dark reddish-brown fur that can look very similar to Labrador pups.
Why were they in a storm drain? Wildlife experts explained that it actually made sense. The location, near the base of the Rocky Mountains, is home to plenty of wild animals. Foxes often use sheltered, hidden areas like drains or dens to keep their young safe. Travis Sauder, a Wildlife Manager with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, noted, “This time of year there are a lot of animals that are starting to have their young, and they have them in small dens that are places that we can encounter.”
Once the truth was revealed, the priority shifted to giving the fox kits the right care. At first, rescuers returned them to the drain in hopes their mother would return. Unfortunately, she never did. With no mother to care for them, the babies were taken to The Animal Clinic of Woodland Park, where wildlife rehabber Terri began the exhausting job of bottle-feeding and nursing them around the clock.
The clinic shared in a Facebook update: “So yes, a litter of eight red fox kits was found in Colorado Springs and brought up to our great rehabber. Terri is losing sleep feeding them for hours, but so far, so good.”
Thanks to the firefighters’ quick action, the vet’s sharp eye, and Terri’s tireless dedication, all eight fox kits survived. Once they were strong enough, they were released back into the wild, exactly where they belong.
What began as a routine puppy rescue turned into a rare and heartwarming wildlife success story—proof that sometimes, even mistakes can lead to the happiest of endings.
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These firefighters in rescued what they thought were puppies from a storm drain… but it turns out they’re red foxes!
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Reporter @AbeytaCBS4 shares the story: https://t.co/ubpMJjjj8h
(:video_camera:: Colorado Springs Fire Department) pic.twitter.com/Mksg0A0IJH— CBSColorado (@CBSNewsColorado) March 16, 2018
