Tinkerbell the dog survives days in abandoned, mud-choked home

Henry Needham barely escaped with his life after a mudflow swept through his Camarillo Springs home and trapped him near the front door.

Firefighters had to cut through the door with a chainsaw and dig him out. Certainly, he thought, his Dachshund, Tinkerbell, hadn’t made it.

Little did he know, Tinkerbell did survive, living in the abandoned home for roughly two days before being spotted by a neighbor and rescued by firefighters.

As firefighters worked to pull Tinkerbell from the mud-choked home on San Como Lane, dozens of neighbors gathered to root and cheer the effort.

“It was just a fantastic time,” Needham told KTLA. “You just cannot believe it.”

Even the Ventura County Fire Department was in on the unlikely turn of events.

“Cheers erupted this morning inside the Ventura County Fire Communications Center upon receiving the report,” according the fire department’s Facebook page.

Needham and his wife were caught off guard Friday as a stronger-than-expected rain storm hit the region. The pair had first called firefighters for assistance after they noticed minor flooding in their home. Not long after, the mud came crashing.

Fire officials said 11 homes were also evacuated after mudflows caused damage along San Como Lane.

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