A small dog went on a wild ride in Kansas. A little pup climbed into the engine compartment of a car and accidentally accompanied a woman on her 30-mile commute. The oblivious owner of the vehicle made it all the way to Missouri before the pup was discovered by her coworker.
Woman finds dog trapped in car engine compartment
Carrie Gillaspie is a host and digital reporter for the Kansas City Royals. When she arrived at work at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, she heard something odd. There was whimpering coming from another vehicle in the parking lot. Thus, she alerted the car owner, Royals Charities Coordinator Ashley Newman. Then, they discovered a trapped dog in the car’s engine compartment.
“I’m rushing to unlock the car, pop the hood. We look for a few seconds and, sure enough, there are two little eyeballs just looking up at us,” Newman told KCTV.
In a TikTok video of the incident, Gillaspie said the dog “was so happy to see us but we had no way to get her out.”
@carrie.gillaspie all in a days work! #dogrescue #rescue #animalrescue #rescuemission #adoptdontshop #kansascity #kcmo ♬ Summer day – TimTaj
Rescue and reunion
Newman and her coworkers, including Royals Lead Mechanical Technician Dennis Miller, began to work to free the dog. It took 90 minutes, but they were able to safely extract the dog from her tight spot. The dog was both terrified and grateful.
“We were initially worried that she was maybe going to try and run when we got her out but she was so exhausted that she just melted into Ashley’s arms as if to say ‘Thank you so much,'” Gillaspie said in her now-viral video.
The dog was taken to the Kansas City Pet Project, where employees scanned her for a microchip. Unfortunately, the dog didn’t have one. Luckily, Newman found a social media post about the dog. The dog and her owner soon reunited in Johnson County, Kansas.
“It’s one of those stories that, unless you have a video, I don’t know if anyone would ever believe it,” Newman said.
Dogs and cars are a dangerous combination
This story had a happy ending, but another recent story in West Virginia about a dog and a car had a tragic one. A pup left in a running SUV while his owners shopped in Target died after the vehicle caught fire. Authorities from the South Charleston and Charleston Fire Departments responded to the incident, but the Pit Bull, named Scooby Doo, passed away from severe smoke inhalation while en route to a veterinary office.
Dogs should never be left unattended in cars, especially in extreme weather conditions. Many states have laws that prohibit dog owners from doing so. The safest place for your pup is at home or on a leash. And remember: microchipping is the best way to prevent losing your pup forever if they escape.
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