A Dangerous Trip for Tripp

Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Wednesday began much like any other for Monticello resident, Karen Jenkins and her husband, Sam. That is, until they opened the kitchen door to let the cat out, and their little canine companion, Tripp, darted outside. You see, Tripp has a bone to pick with cats, and when he saw the cat outside, he just had to give chase. He ran as hard as he could on his little stubby legs, the legs of a Dachshund, and tried his hardest to catch his nemesis. The cat was smart, however, and far more agile. But little Tripp was determined to not be outmatched, so when the cat ran up the stairs, Tripp followed, hot on his heels. When the cat climbed over the garage, Tripp followed suit. And when the cat jumped down into the rafters of the attic crawl space, well, Tripp was sure to jump down too.
That's where Tripp realized his big mistake in challenging the cat. The cat jumped easily back up out of the rafters and went about his day, tail swaying airily behind him without a care in the world, while Tripp, with his short little legs, was unable to jump high enough to get out. Stuck in this strange, hot place, Tripp began to bark.
Karen and Sam called to Tripp, trying to coax him down, but it did not take long to see that Tripp was stuck. “He barked and scratched for a long time, and we were unsure of how to get him down, as neither of us could get up there to reach him.” Karen said. “After along while with no luck getting him out (we even put down a long, wooden plank hoping Tripp would be able to get to it and use it as a ramp), I started to reach out to people who might be able to help us. I called our HVAC guy, but he was on a day-long job in Tallahassee. Then I called our pest control guy, but he was on a job in Madison and it would be quite a while before he got back to Monticello.”

After nearly two hours, Tripps barking and scratching had quieted, and the Jenkins' concern grew even more, as the attic space was beginning to get hot. While Sam debated the best place for cutting a hole in the wall in an attempt to free the little dog, Karen left to take her mother to an appointment. On the way home, she passed by Malloy Nursery, which was only about two miles away from their home. They had recently bought some plants from the nursery and Karen remembered there were some workers there who might be able to fit up into the rafters of the garage. Desperate to find someone who might be able to help free Tripp, she stopped in, and that's where she met Austin.
Austin Malloy listened to her story of Tripp's journey to the rafters and knew he had to help. Malloy had very recently lost his own dog to heat stroke, and he knew first-hand the dangers of a hot attic to a little dog like Tripp. He offered to help in any way he could, and followed Karen with his truck to her home. Upon arrival, Malloy climbed up into the attic, and tried to call out to the quieted pup. Austin, who is the fire chief of the Monticello Volunteer Fire Department, crawled in through the small space on his belly, and proceeded to belly-crawl nearly 45 feet across the garage length until he reached the place where Tripp was waiting.
Immediately, he saw Tripp's biggest obstacle: A board blocked the pathway that would have allowed Tripp to make it back out to the main attic. His short, stubby legs did not enable him to climb over such a trivial roadblock. Austin carefully lifted Tripp up over the board, and encouraged him to walk out on his own while he found a way to turn around and belly-crawl the 45 feet back to the attic entrance.
“We were so happy, and Austin was so great with Tripp. He talked to him the whole way, calling him by name and reassuring him that everything was okay. He was genuinely worried, and when he finally made his way out of the attic, he wouldn't accept anything in thanks except a glass of cold water.” Karen stated. “ In fact, he accepted the water only after he made sure Tripp had had some first. Tripp drank a lot of water, and was just fine after a long rest.”
Karen and Sam Jenkins would like to give a shout out of thanks and gratitude to the Monticello Volunteer Fire Department and their chief Austin Malloy, who braved the hot attic crawlspace to help bring their mischievous little Tripp back down to safety. “While he wasn't on duty when he helped us, we want to give a shout out to the Volunteer Fire Department that he is a part of.” Karen said. “We were so grateful for Austin's help. We moved here six years ago from North Virginia, and we absolutely love living in such a great small town, where you can always count on someone in the community to lend a helping hand.”
Today, Tripp is doing well and has fully recovered from his trying adventure into the rafters. “The rest of that day, he didn't do very much. He slept hard, and refused to leave my side.” Said Karen. It would seem that, at least for now, he has learned his lesson about chasing the cat.