Lee Trawick: reporter2@riverbendnews.org
On Thursday, July 27, the Suwannee County Animal Shelter (SCAS) received a phone call about a dog falling into a sinkhole. Her name is Freckles, and she is a Cocker Spaniel who loves to hunt. She was in a high-speed pursuit of a pesky armadillo who had been plundering and digging up her owner's yard. Freckles was determined to be the family hero and guard the fortress with all abandonment of fear. It was a race for the fence line, and, although Freckles knew she was putting herself at risk by crossing the fence, she did not care. However, the pursuit ended as quickly as it intensified, and the tables quickly turned on Freckles. The deeper into the wilderness Freckles pursued, the more she found herself losing home-field advantage; the armadillo gained the upper hand by knowing the terrain. Then, just as Freckles was closing in on the armadillo, her world went dark. She had fallen into an old sinkhole not long after crossing into the unknown beyond her owner's property. When her owner found her, she called the SCAS. Upon arriving on the scene, the SCAS assessed the situation before Suwannee County Fire Rescue arrived and jumped into action, first deploying a rope that Freckles grabbed and pulled to let everyone know she was in need of help, then placing a ladder into the hole that was barely big enough to hold a person. Firefighter Buck Buchanan then disappeared into the abyss of darkness only to reappear shortly with an exhausted, but relieved, Freckles. After the SCAS checked her over, Freckles was reunited, unharmed, with her owner. After her daring adventure in the wilderness, she was awarded a bath and a night of peaceful sleep in her bed. After going toe to toe with both Mother Nature and pesky beast, Freckles's owner was proud to announce she is also expecting a litter of puppies soon. While the armadillo may have gotten away this time, he may think twice before digging up Freckles's yard from now on.