Woman cries out as dog is found alive nearly a week after house collapse in Washington

For nearly a week, a Washington couple thought their dog was gone forever.

One of their two dogs was found dead inside their Seattle home after it slid 15 feet off its foundation and collapsed on itself on Friday, Jan. 7. They assumed the same fate for Sammy, their 3-year-old black Labrador mix, The Seattle Times reported.

“There’s just been no hope,” Remy Olivier, one of the couple’s neighbors, told The Seattle Times. “We hadn’t been looking for living dogs. We assumed that she was in the crush because there’s not much left of the house. We assumed that she was dead along with her sister.”

Six days after the landslide, however, the owners reported hearing their missing dog inside the home, the Seattle Fire Department said.

Firefighters rushed to the home to investigate on Thursday, Jan. 13. Crews started to hear the dog as well.

Officials had deemed the home structurally unstable after it slid off its foundation. At the time, no one was to enter the home. Debris had fallen and the house was wrecked, McClatchy News reported.

Firefighters followed the dog’s yelps and searched the building, according to the fire department. They cut through walls and pieces of flooring in hopes of discovering Sammy alive.

After some time, firefighters appeared with the dog in their arms. The owners were overjoyed, video shows.

“My baby, my baby,” a woman cried out in a video. “Oh my god, Sammy.”

The dog was alive and in stable condition, firefighters said. Sammy was wagging her tail and seemed alert, KING 5 reported.

“I just can’t believe we got her out,” a neighbor told KOMO News.

This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Woman cries out as dog is found alive nearly a week after house collapse in Washington."