Maverick’s life has never been easy. The 12-year-old German shepherd has been abandoned, hit by a car and caught in a raccoon trap. When he finally found his forever home, Maverick probably assumed that his troubles were finally over.
Until he fell into a sinkhole.
Maverick went outside to use the bathroom at his new home in Missouri late last month and never came back. Somehow, he was able to break free of his invisible fence and fell into a sinkhole hidden on the side of the road, accidentally burying himself alive.
Maverick’s family and community searched for him for three days with no results. They were worried he might have fallen into the lake near their house and drowned – until finally, Maverick’s owner Lisa Van Valkenburgh heard him crying out for help.
“I had to go look one more time and heard a faint howl,” Van Valkenburgh wrote in a Facebook post. “5 ft down and underground there was my little old man.”
When the family discovered what had happened they tried their best to get Maverick out themselves, but were afraid the sinkhole might collapse further and kill the senior dog.
“He must have stepped on it went in hind quarters first but the more he moved the more he sunk in,” Van Valkenburgh wrote.
Finally, with help from the local fire department, Maverick was pulled up to safety after a 2-hour rescue mission, proving yet again that he will never, ever give up.
The poor dog was rushed to the vet, where it took them an hour just to stabilize him. Though he spent several days at the vet recovering, Maverick survived with just a few minor injuries and somehow came out of the ordeal relatively fine.
Last week he was finally able to return home again. Hopefully Maverick has now filled his quota for near-death experiences, and can live out the rest of his life in peace.
“One week ago today we found Maverick, wow amazing what a amazing week!” Van Valkenburgh wrote on Saturday. “He is doing great, eating, playing, back to his little defiant self love my boy! Thank you everyone for all your kind words and prayers.”
