Wrestle Drainia

From today's edition of Newsday (New York)

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Dog rescued from drainpipe

Like many of his Stony Brook neighbors, Marty dislikes raccoons. But while residents in his neighborhood find the masked critters annoying because they knock over garbage cans, Marty, a 7-year-old Jack Russell terrier, tends to get into brawls with them.

When Marty disappeared from his backyard Monday afternoon, his owner, Austin Skerritt, 13, figured the feisty dog was stalking a raccoon, as he had done in the past, and would eventually find his way back to their Night Heron Drive home.

At about 5 p.m., Austin and his friend Tyler Brennan, also 13, were biking about half a mile away, at Fox Hill Lane and Bailey Hollow Road, when they heard Marty's frantic barks coming from a storm drain.

They called Suffolk police, but were pretty sure Marty would get out easily. Marty had wandered into a storm drain to fight a raccoon last year and a few months ago jumped out of a third- floor window of a Manhattan apartment building and survived with a broken hip, Austin said.

But when officers with the Emergency Services Unit arrived and couldn't immediately get Marty out, the boys began to worry. "He's gotten older and it was really hot out," Austin said.

Neighborhood adults and children watched with suspense as Officers Walter Justinic, 32, and Stephen Tracy, 35, managed to flush Marty out with a fire extinguisher and pull him out with a long pole attached to a noose.

But first, the officers had to corner Marty so he and the raccoon wouldn't get lost in the drain system as they were scrapping. "I could see the raccoon grabbing him and biting him," Justinic said.

About 1 1/2 hours later, the officers were able to lift a wet and dirty Marty to safety. Aside from scratches on his paw, he seemed fine, his owner said. Austin's mother said Marty has had his rabies shots and sees no reason to take him to the vet. The officers said the raccoon, which weighed about 30 pounds, seemed content to remain in the drain.

Michele Hass, 40, one of about 10 neighbors who watched the ordeal, feared the worst. "I thought the raccoon would get him," she said. Another neighbor, Ginny Bushart gushed about how heroic the officers were. "I thought the police officers were such wonderful role models for the young boys."