Three pit bulls rescued after being trapped in a sewer drain

Three stranded dogs are safe and sound after being found by a police officer trapped in a sewer drain on the side of the highway.

Matt Rush, an officer with the Cocoa Police Department, found three pit bulls stuck in a drain sewer while on a routine patrol in Florida, WFTV reports.

Rush was driving when he suddenly heard dogs barking as if “they were in distress” and stopped to investigate, according to the police department’s Facebook page.

Once he found the three dogs with their heads poking out of the drain, he called for animal control services.

Brevard County Animal Services officers arrived at the scene and soon realized there was no way of getting the three pit bulls out without prying open the storm grate. So firefighters were called in to lift the heavy metal grate.

One by one the dogs were safely removed and taken to an animal shelter, while the owners are being tracked down, FOX 35 reports.

Nobody knows for sure how the three dogs got into the sewer in the first place or for how long they might have been stuck there. But Rush told media outlets that he suspects they might have dug their way through a nearby manhole.

Brevard County Animal Services is reportedly now taking care of the dogs.