GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Construction crews put the last nail in the floor three weeks ago without realizing they'd hammered together a prison for a dog.
A night security guard at the Jasmine Park senior-center construction site spied the dog's eyes through a crack early Saturday; before that, nobody knew the dog was trapped under the newly built floor.
Security guard Lance Lyndh called the city Department of Public Safety to report the trapped female hound dog.
Police cut a hole in the floor and allowed two men to coax the dog out with a bowl of water.
"She's a miracle dog," said 32-year-old Chris Nelson, one of the two rescuers.
The hound got her first comfortable night's sleep in weeks Saturday at the Pacific Veterinary Clinic, where she'll stay until a permanent home can be found.
Lovelace Construction Co. of Grants Pass had been building a 43-bed senior center at the site to replace a building that burned down March 6 in what officials say was an arson.
Crews nailed the final floorboard down on June 16, said Bill Thatcher, the construction superintendent.
Workers never heard a peep from beneath, he said.
"For a dog to survive that long without food or drink is amazing," Thatcher said.
Nelson wrapped the dog in a sheet and placed her in a construction shed until police took her to the vet.
"It was about the size of a Dalmatian, if it had been filled out, and it was scared," Nelson said of the dog, which he named Phoenix for rising from the ashes of the burned senior center.
Nelson says he's looking for an apartment and cannot take Phoenix himself.
"I hope she ends up with someone with a large yard where she can run around," he says. "She deserves it."
A night security guard at the Jasmine Park senior-center construction site spied the dog's eyes through a crack early Saturday; before that, nobody knew the dog was trapped under the newly built floor.
Security guard Lance Lyndh called the city Department of Public Safety to report the trapped female hound dog.
Police cut a hole in the floor and allowed two men to coax the dog out with a bowl of water.
"She's a miracle dog," said 32-year-old Chris Nelson, one of the two rescuers.
The hound got her first comfortable night's sleep in weeks Saturday at the Pacific Veterinary Clinic, where she'll stay until a permanent home can be found.
Lovelace Construction Co. of Grants Pass had been building a 43-bed senior center at the site to replace a building that burned down March 6 in what officials say was an arson.
Crews nailed the final floorboard down on June 16, said Bill Thatcher, the construction superintendent.
Workers never heard a peep from beneath, he said.
"For a dog to survive that long without food or drink is amazing," Thatcher said.
Nelson wrapped the dog in a sheet and placed her in a construction shed until police took her to the vet.
"It was about the size of a Dalmatian, if it had been filled out, and it was scared," Nelson said of the dog, which he named Phoenix for rising from the ashes of the burned senior center.
Nelson says he's looking for an apartment and cannot take Phoenix himself.
"I hope she ends up with someone with a large yard where she can run around," he says. "She deserves it."
