Sandy Gazdick didn’t believe she’d ever again see her dog, Pierre, after he got away from her Nesquehoning home and slid into a sewer drain.

“I thought he was going to die,” Gazdick admitted.

But she believes God was in the driver’s seat Wednesday afternoon and brought the right people together to save her 14 year-old blind and deaf poodle mix.

Gazdick was having work done on her home Wednesday afternoon and just like always, she let Pierre onto the patio. But when he attempted to return inside, the dog used a door that Gazdick had open for the contractor. That door led to the alley - and not the kitchen.

“He decided to run. I never saw him go that fast. I couldn’t catch up with him,” Gazdick said of the senior dog.

Pierre’s paws hit the busy Catawissa Street, as Gazdick, wearing no shoes, waved her arms in an attempt to slow traffic.

Some motorists stopped to help her as she closed in on the canine.

“Just as I was about the grab him, the dog slips into the sewer,” she said.

She couldn’t see him - just as he couldn’t see where he was going.

That’s when Gazdick believes God intervened.

As she was shaking and near tears, she spotted Tom Connors, director of the Carbon County Animal Shelter, driving from Mill Street to Catawissa Street - the exact spot where Pierre dropped into the sewer.

Connors stopped and began making calls. Nesquehoning Police Chief Michael Weaver arrived, and so too, did Bob Pilla from the Nesquehoning Sewer Authority.

The men arrived minutes later but for Gazdick, it seemed like a lifetime.

“Of course, I’m hysterical. I’m thinking my dog is going to die in the sewer,” Gazdick said.

Pilla used a crane and high powered magnet on the authority’s truck to lift the heavy grate from the mouth of the drain. And then he lowered himself into the darkness and tried to spot the dog.

“I was thinking that the little bugger wandered about a block and went to the next street,” Pilla said.

He planned to follow the drain to its next intersection - and as he did, he yelled for Pierre.

“I was calling his name and whistling and then I realized that he’s not going to hear me,” Pilla said.

Knowing the layout of the borough’s drain system, he exited and went to the next spot where Pierre could have wandered. It was at the bottom of the hill on Mill Street.

And sure enough, he spotted the dog sitting in a box drain underneath the street.

Pilla hooked the crane and magnet to the grate, flipped a power switch and hoisted it into the air. Connors, Weaver and others helped.

Pierre stayed in place as Pilla climbed down to rescue him.

“It was very heartwarming and very invigorating pulling that dog out of that drain. I handed him to her and the look on her face was so thankful,” he said.

Pilla was thankful that the dog didn’t get lost in the network of drains. He is also thankful that the borough has the equipment that made the rescue possible in a short period of time.

Gazdick was ecstatic to see Pierre again.

“I think God must have been there for Pierre because he’s been such a good dog,” she said.

The pooch was covered in leaves but was in perfect shape. She took him home where he enjoyed a treat.

“That dog means more than anything to me,” she said.

What really struck Gazdick, she said, was the kindness of all involved. Connors, Weaver, Pilla and the motorists who stopped showed her the good in the world.

One woman, she said, even offered to give her her shoes so she wouldn’t burn her bare feet.

“The camaraderie of it all was such a good thing,” Gazdick said. “I think these people need some recognition for all the caring they provided.”

She also found some humor in the incident.

“He had his bath yesterday and today he decides to jump in the sewer,” she laughed.