STANDISH – A black purebred Chow Chow named Belle has a new lease on life after rescuers last week pulled the blind dog from a well in Standish.

Susan Frost, a resident of Fairwinds Drive off Route 113 near Steep Falls, spent much of last Wednesday searching for Belle after she got loose from the family home. Belle had wandered off after being let out by Frost’s daughter at about 9 a.m. Frost said Belle “must have caught wind of something and bolted,” prompting an all-day search on the part of friends and family.

After getting a call from her daughter, Frost, who works in Westbrook, arrived back home at about 11 a.m. and believes she walked about 10 miles from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. looking for her lost dog in nearby woods and neighborhoods. She also had her two daughters and their boyfriends and a neighbor helping to search, as well.

“She only comes to me when I call, so I had to go home to search. She’s mostly an inside dog and totally blind so this was probably very scary for her, too. Not just us,” Frost said.

At 4:30 p.m., Frost was sitting on her back deck, exhausted and dejected. It was then she got the idea to search a nearby field she had searched before, thinking the dog may have been injured and possibly lying down in the thick grass.

“I sure am glad I went out again. I was really tired, but I just got the idea she may have been in that field. It must have been the fifth time I checked that field,” Frost said.

When Frost entered the clearing adjacent to Route 113 just north of Fairwinds Drive, she proceeded to make a thorough search. As she walked, she came across a cement-covered well and could hear Belle whining inside.

“Oh my God, I could hear her down in there and I didn’t want to look ‘cuz I didn’t know what I’d find,” Frost said.

But what she found was her black, 45-pound Chow covered in mud and walking around in circles about 12 feet below.

“I cried my eyes out, I was so happy,” Frost said. “Thank God there was no water in there or she would have drowned. And thank God we didn’t give up looking and I went out for one more walk.”

Frost then called 911 to have Standish Animal Control help retrieve the dog from the well. Jack Freitas arrived at about 6 p.m. and dropped himself down into the well with a 16-foot water rescue pole. He used the pole to push Belle up and out of the deep well.

“I’ve never had a dog in a well before, that’s for sure,” Freitas said. “Chief (Brent) Libby and the town’s administration are very proactive in giving me the tools I need to do my job.”

The reason the dog fell into the hole, Freitas added, was because robbers had just recently stolen a cast iron manhole cover that covered the drainage collection well. After the rescue, Freitas checked call logs and found that the owner of the property had reported the missing manhole cover the day before the dog went missing, reporting that he heard a van in the field.

“The iron in these covers is worth like $100. You hear about people stealing them in large metro areas like Portland and Lewiston, but not out here. It takes three people to lift one,” Freitas said.

Frost is grateful to those who helped retrieve her dog from the well, namely her daughters Carrie and Katie, their boyfriends Andrew Miller and Jamie Gerard, and Frost’s boyfriend Colin Morse, who helped Freitas lift the dog out of the well.

“Thank you to everyone who helped. The rescue went really well and the best thing is that nothing’s broken, mainly because it was a soft landing in that mud,” Frost said. “I don’t have any idea how she fell into that well, though, but I’m very happy we found her and she’s OK.”

To prevent her from darting again, Frost has reworked Belle’s kennel, located at the edge of the deck, so she can’t escape.

“She won’t be going anywhere without me from now on,” Frost said.

Belle is just pulled from a 12-foot well in Standish after
falling in last week. The rescue of the blind dog was led by Animal
Control Officer Jack Freitas. “I’ve never had a dog in a well
before, that’s for sure,” Freitas said.
A relieved Chow Chow named Belle relaxes at her home in Standish
after being rescued from a well off Fairwinds Drive last
Wednesday.