PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) — A Port St. Lucie family is calling it nothing short of a miracle after their 16-year-old dog, Colt, was found alive at the bottom of a deep construction hole off Village Parkway, three nights and two full days after disappearing from home.
Colt, a small Maltese mix who doesn’t walk fast, somehow managed to travel about a mile and a half from his house after the family’s front door didn’t latch properly. Their doorbell camera later showed him slipping outside late Thursday night.
For days, the Underwood family searched relentlessly. They printed flyers, knocked on doors, walked the neighborhood for hours, and posted in multiple Facebook groups hoping someone had seen him. But no one had.
“By Saturday we were crying. We didn’t think we were going to see him again,” said Colt’s owner, Kristy Underwood. “He’s my baby.”
What the family didn’t know was that Colt had fallen into a deep, narrow construction hole near a work site off Village Parkway.
Everything changed Sunday afternoon when cyclist Andrew Balaschak rode past and heard a noise he said didn’t sound right, like an animal in distress.
“When I came upon this hole, I realized something was in there,” Balaschak said. “That’s when I found little Colt in dire need.”
Colt was weak, dehydrated, and covered in dirt. Balaschak called 911 and stayed with him, dripping water from his bottle to help keep the dog calm until animal control arrived.
“I was just trying to get some water down in his mouth as much as I could,” he said.
Animal control officers pulled Colt out safely and contacted his owners, who rushed to pick him up.
“Ecstatic. Shaking. Crying,” Kristy said. “I woke my husband and said, ‘We gotta go. They found Colt.’”
Back home, Colt was covered in ants and dirt from the hole.
“There were ants all over him, under his fur,” Kristy said. “I washed him twice. There was just so much dirt.”
Colt ate, drank, and slept for hours straight, and his family says he is now doing much better.
Balaschak says he’s grateful he turned around when he heard that sound.
“I mean, look at this guy,” he said while reunited with Colt. “They should keep holes like this closed. Even a small child or an animal could fall in.”
Animal Control has since covered the hole with a temporary barricade. Colt’s family and Balaschak are urging construction crews and utility companies to secure any open holes on job sites to prevent something like this from happening again.
The family says Colt will be going to the vet for a follow-up but is expected to be okay.