A heart for animals

Small marten rescued from sewage pipe

A piece of floor in the cellar had to be chiseled open so that the baby animal could be rescued.(Bild: FF Apetlon)

Admittedly, they are less cute when they nibble on cars, but at the end of the day, martens don't know that they are causing damage. In Apetlon, a baby marten has now been rescued by the Apetlon fire department. The little one had fallen into a pipe. 

It was noticed by the house owner, who heard animal noises coming from the ground and called the fire department. "We were alerted that the woman could hear something coming from the storm drain. So we arrived with the pipe camera," explains Deputy Commander Thomas Preiner. 

The animal was eventually found in the sewer in the cellar. Several pipes were dismantled, and a piece of floor was even chiseled open to get the dwarf out of its predicament. "While we were working, you could hear the little one whimpering all the time. As if he knew that help was coming."

The little cub was handed over into the care of vet Claudia Herka.(Bild: FF Apetlon)

The marten cub was finally rescued. The vet was contacted and the little cub was finally handed over into the care of Dr. Claudia Herka from the Parndorf animal shelter, who is already raising a baby marten. "It's always good when they're not alone. Then they can spend time together. I make sure that the animals don't become fixated on humans. They are wild animals and they should stay that way. As soon as they are big enough, they will be released into the wild," says the vet. 

Thanks in any case to the kind owner of the house and the members of the Apetlon fire brigade who rescued the dwarf!