Dog rescued from drainpipe after an entire week when passerby heard him barking

A dramatic rescue effort saw a dog saved after being trapped in a sewer pipe for a week, after a passerby heard him barking.

Rescuers were able to extract the eight-year-old coonhound named Dylan after a gruelling nine-hour rescue mission that involved digging down into the ground so they could free him.

Dylan was a little the worse for wear when rescuers in Medford, New Jersey, found him. But it all ended well, with the pooch finding a new forever home.

Rescuers were forced to dig down into someone’s property to get to the pipe during a nine-hour rescue effort by police, firefighters, council workers and electric crews.

The heroic effort began after a neighbour heard the poor animal, who was trapped in the sewer with no food or water, barking a week after he disappeared, reported the Star.

It took a team effort in South Jersey to save the dog stuck in a sewer pipe (cbsnews)

Shellinda Hardie, of Jericho's Wish Animal Rescue, told 6ABC: “I’m going to cry. It was amazing to see everybody get together like that, and they worked so hard for a dog they didn't even know.”

Eventually, at 1am on Sunday (July 24) Dylan was freed from the pipe. He was found to be covered in ticks and had a 104-degree fever as well as wounds to his elbows from the pipe, but he is now recovering from his ordeal with vets.

“This has been the toughest recovery that we've been involved with,” said Kathleen Tortu-Bowles, of Southern New Jersey Humane Tracking and Trapping Recovery Group.

The Medford Police and Fire Departments arrived and the dog was pulled out safely with help from the town's sewer department (cbsnews)

“We’ve never had anyone stuck anywhere like that.

“They had to dig down into somebody’s property to get to the pipe. And then once they reached the pipe, they started banging on the pipe.

“Once they started banging on the pipe, Dylan started shimmying towards the firefighters.”

Dylan was taken to a local vet and treated for his injuries (cbsnews)

Vets at the animal hospital where Dylan is now recovering said he is doing well, but he may need to have surgery on his elbow.

“It’s very unbelievable that he’s alive, actually. It’s just a good thing that he was saved when he was,” said Kathleen.

But the story has a happy ending as Dylan has now been adopted and will be able to go off to his new forever home as soon as he’s fit again.