GRAND PRAIRIE -- A dog that calls a storm drain home is getting a lot of attention after photos of the animal were posted alone.
The 60-70 pound German Shepherd has been named Cassie by neighbors, who have spotted it living in the drain for the past six months -- and apparently loving it.
"I felt like someone was looking at me, and I looked back, and his head was right there," said neighbor Michelle Chargois. "The story is that he kind of likes to live down there!"
But everyone in the the neighborhood is concerned about the animal, including Karla Thompson, who spotted it peering out of the drain last week.
"I said, 'Oh my goodness, there's a dog down there!'" she recalled. "With it raining, it was flooding Friday, I kind of panicked. I was like, 'she's just stuck down there.'"
Grand Prairie Animal Services says they know about the dog, who was been reported to them multiple times in recent months.
"It's good that we got the attention, but we also need people to understand that we do have it under control," said Danielle Tate, Animal Services manager for Grand Prairie.
Tate assured WFAA the animal is not stuck and has been observed coming and going from the drainage system, as it appears to call it home. They want to get it to a safer place, but it's been difficult.
"We haven't been able to catch him. He takes off and runs," said Tate.
Animal Services says they're working with one neighbor to build trust with the dog by hand-feeding it, but they're asking others to stay away. They're asking for time to complete the rescue, and discourage the public from donating to a GoFundMe that was set up to dart the animal. That tactic is not the best solution, Tate said.
Thompson and other neighbors are watching closely, worried about the animal. They believe a rescue can't come soon enough, because even a dog's life shouldn't be spent down the drain.
"It's been six months," she said. "Are we going to let it go another six months?"