By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A CHERISHED family dog which trapped itself inside a car engine for more than half a day has been miraculously rescued by Narre Warren fireys.
Ollie, a four-year-old Spoodle, fled his owner’s Berwick property on Monday after being spooked by the thunderstorm that brought Melbourne to a standstill, and sought refuge in the engine compartment of a nearby car where he was stuck for 14 hours.
Owner Caroline O’Reilly said she didn’t realise Ollie was missing until she returned home from work around 2.30pm on Monday.
After a frantic search Ms O’Reilly heard Ollie whimpering from a nearby garage, and soon discovered the dog had climbed through the engine mount of a neighbour’s car and got himself stuck inside.
Following several failed attempts to pull Ollie out, Ms O’Reilly contacted the Narre Warren CFA who responded to the call about 5.10pm.
Ms O’Reilly said she had feared for Ollie’s life.
“It could have been a different outcome,” she said.
“I did start to panic a little bit, I thought he’d stopped breathing, but all was good.
“I was very relieved.
“I’m very grateful to the CFA, they did a great job.”
It’s also understood the neighbour had unknowingly tried to start the car earlier that day but couldn’t because Ollie had chewed through wires in the engine.
The RACV were called and got the car started but also had not discovered Ollie.
In what proved to be a miraculous stroke of luck, Ms O’Reilly said the neighbour was told to work from home due to the storm and didn’t end up driving the car.
Narre Warren CFA First Lieutenant Travis Carter was one of seven firefighters on the scene who helped successfully rescue Ollie, but said the preliminary outlook was grim.
“We were very concerned about his health; we didn’t have high hopes when we were working on it,” he said.
“But when we got him out his tail was wagging, and the owner held him and he looked like a happy dog.
“We’ve had a few animal call-outs, but the engine compartment is a first for me.”
Mr Carter said it took the brigade 35 minutes to rescue Ollie, eventually extricating him through a gap at the top of the engine compartment.
The Dandenong CFA rescue team were originally called to the incident but ultimately weren’t required.
See page 11 for more on how Monday’s thunderstorm caused chaos across Casey, and closed down the Monash Freeway.
