Mundys Plumbing: Byford plumbers praised after saving baby pug from sewer line

A puppy is lucky to be alive thanks to the actions of a plumbing company and its heroic apprentice.

Mundys Plumbing and Gas is a family-owned service based in Byford that has served the Perth community for 15 years.

A peculiar phone call on Tuesday had the crew springing into action after worried owner Michelle Sinclair shared suspicions that her eight-week-old pug had wiggled its way into the sewer pipes.

“I came home and just knew straight away that he’d gone down the drain,” she told PerthNow.

“I panicked because I was calling him and I couldn’t hear him, I couldn’t see him — I just thought the worst.

“I thought he’d been washed away with the water because it was attached to the toilet flushing pipe.”

Third-year plumbing apprentice Daniel Sanders had just arrived at the office during the call, when his boss approached him about the situation.

“The boss comes up to me and says to grab the camera and go to this job, and I asked, ‘What’s going on there?’,” the apprentice revealed.

“He said a dog has fallen down a drain — I actually thought he was joking, but I think even the boss was a bit shocked.”

Daniel, a fellow dog owner, was quick to race to the Byford property to assist in the owner’s hour of need.

After arriving, the company discovered an inspection outlet had accidentally been left open by a previous tradie who had worked at the property — an error that owner Michelle said she harboured no anger about.

The puglet had used the opening, which is said to be no bigger than a woman’s hand, to wriggle his way towards the main toilet connection.

Daniel sprung into action, immediately sending the drain inspection camera through the pipes to try and locate the pup.

After trying many angles and having “no luck”, the 20-year-old began to pull the camera towards the street when he made a shocking discovery: two beady eyes looking at the camera.

“I sent the camera the other way and sure enough, there he was,” he said of the heartwarming moment.

“Honestly, I stared at it for like 20 seconds or so just to make sure he was alive — and thank God, he was.

“We ended up having to pull the toilet off, reach the whole arm down the toilet pipe and pull the dog out”.

The entire rescue effort took the Mundys team two hours, from receiving the phone call to having the puppy out.

Owner Michelle said she “couldn’t believe” the puppy had survived after spending an estimated six hours total in the sewer line.

“I just felt so sick to think that if he wasn’t in (the pipe), he would be under the road and we would’ve had to get him out — it was just the worst feeling,” she said.

“It was just such a relief, I felt it was my lucky day and I couldn’t have dreamt that would be how it ended.”

Although the little pup spent hours in the pipe, he was mostly unscathed from his close encounter.

“He was shaking for a bit and was hungry, but that was pretty much it,” Daniel said.

“I’m surprised he survived, to be honest. It’s pretty pretty wild.”

Michelle took the puppy to the vet after the incident to ensure he did not have any health effects from his time in the pipe.

“Physically, he looked fine, but I just thought I better just check in case he’s got bacteria or something, but he’s okay, he’s fine,” she said.

“He doesn’t need anything at the moment, but I do need to monitor him over the next few days in case he gets a temperature or gets ill, then I have to take him back.“

Mundys shared a Facebook post about the incredible rescue, praising the third-year-apprentice for his “talented” work.

The plumbing service revealed the rescue was “definitely a first” for them, even joking that they should add animal rescue services to the business but they were “very thankful” for the positive outcome.

Daniel echoed how rare situations like this were, saying plumbers “never see anything moving or living in a drain that makes it out”.

Locals were quick to praise the company for their noble work in saving the critter.

“OMG what a rescue from Mundys,” one customer wrote.

Another said: “What a stressful but fabulous outcome, good work Dan the Man!”

One person even joked the pug should be renamed to Mundys in tribute of the plumbing services — however, it seems Michelle was one step ahead.

She told PerthNow that the pup had been named “Lil Daniel”, a tribute to the “adorable” young tradie who saved him from the sewer line.

“(Daniel) was his hero, so I said ‘I’m going to name him after you’,” she said.

Daniel said the owner had shared the “cool” tribute with him in-person after the rescue.

The third-year apprentice also revealed that his colleagues were “jealous” over his role in the incredible saga.

“They’re jealous they couldn’t go and get credit for it,” he joked.

As for Lil Daniel, owner Michelle shared her plans to adopt the puglet.

“He was the one puppy (of the seven in his litter) that I was holding back on selling, thinking I might actually keep him,” she said.

“This is just a sign I need to keep him.”