Dog rescued from 30-foot well in Malibu after four-hour ordeal

MALIBU, Calif. (KABC) -- Los Angeles County firefighters safely rescued a dog that had been trapped at the bottom of a well for four hours in the Santa Monica Mountains Sunday afternoon.

The dog - Lucy - had been hiking with her owners off a dirt trail near Malibu when she fell into the 30-foot hole just before noon Sunday. At the bottom, the hole was only two feet wide.



The county Urban Search & Rescue team responded and set up a rope system allowing them to lower a firefighter into the hole and bring Lucy up. The pooch seemed in good spirits and was reunited with her owners.



"We set up an Arizona Vortex, which is a three-legged artificial high point," said USAR team member Matt Walmsley, who rescued Lucy. "And that allows me to come to of the hole clean. We put on a safety rope and a main rope and I went down with a strap that I have in my pocket here. I got it around the dog and stood her up and got her in my arms and up we came."

Firefighters say the incident reinforces an important lesson to hikers in the area: Keep your dog on a leash.