BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Stray dogs are a common sight around Kern County, but a new issue has arisen with the storms as these dogs try and find shelter through harsh weather conditions, even going so far as to enter open sewer drains.
Chloe Kearney lives in the Silver Creek neighborhood in Southwest Bakersfield. She says she could hear the sounds of the dogs coming from the manholes around her house.
"Animal Control did come in the morning, and when we spoke, he informed me that this has been happening since, from their knowledge, this has been happening since December," said Kearney. "They've been getting about seven calls in the area concerning these dogs and other dogs."
Kern County Animal Services and the Kern County Fire Department responded to the calls about the dogs in the storm drains, but according to Kearny, people from both agencies told her that unless they could get the dogs to come to them, there wasn't much else they could do.
That's when neighbors in the Silver Creek area took charge.
"We began to get the neighborhood involved. We kind of put it on the neighborhood website so everyone could see what was going on, and so if anyone had any contacts, you know, they could reach out and make it a community effort," said Kearney.
Neighbors suspect that at least one of the stray dogs living in the storm drain has been there since October, 2021. Resident Carmen Carpio decided to take matters into her own hands and make calls to various animal rescue services after finding out about the dogs a couple days ago.
"A few nights ago, before I went to bed I went out there and I could see the sewer. I shined my flashlight and one of the dogs looked like he had not seen daylight in a long time," said Carpio.
Carpio contacted Helping Animals Live Tomorrow (HALT), a Kern County animal rescue, in hopes of getting these dogs out. The organization says it has been out to the location of the sewer drain entrances where they set up open crates with food to hopefully lure them out.
Carpio says she wants to see improvements in the future regarding the manholes, as her and other neighbors are worried about more dogs going in, as well as fearing that a child could be next.
"It should not be happening," said Carpio. "In other counties and cities, if you have an open water canal, they have a chain gate so that water can still flow out, but people can't go in them."
