Puppy accidentally taken out with the trash is saved

By Stewart Bishop, Globe Correspondent

A tragedy was averted in Braintree when a lost puppy was rescued after it had been accidentally put in the back of a rubbish truck.

Cynthia Ferguson had left a couch on Commercial Street Friday for Capital Waste Services Inc. to collect, not realizing that Buster, her 7-month-old Chihuahua, had crawled inside.

"I didn't really catch it right away, when we were moving the couch," Ferguson said today. "There were about six dogs playing at my house that day; they get all excited like little kids."

Ferguson said she was looking around for Buster when she remembered the couch. "I got a chill up my back and I said 'Oh my God!' ''

She immediately ran outside, but the couch was gone. Ferguson then called Town Hall, where someone connected her with Capital Waste Services Inc., where Debbie McNeff picked up the phone.

"She was a little panicked," McNeff said.

McNeff called the superviser, who alerted the drivers. "They were about to crush the couch, then they heard barking, " she said.

The drivers originally thought Buster was a stray and they put him in the truck cab to keep him warm until they could contact animal control. After they got the call, they took little Buster back to Ferguson.

"It's like a miracle," Ferguson said. "I'm so thankful. I was a wreck."

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