Was It A Dog Or Just A Frog Neighbors Heard?

Colleen Head, Gwinnett Animal Control Officer, first got the call on Friday night - neighbors in a Norcross neighborhood heard the sounds of a dog barking in a storm drain.

Head arrived at the 1100 block of Balboa Court in the unincorporated area of Norcross around 8 p.m. to investigate but due to fading light was not able to locate a dog trapped in the storm drain.

She returned Saturday morning around 8:30, then Gwinnett Police and the Fire Department showed up to help.

"It was loud last night," said Head. "It sounded like a dog. But this morning it was faint so I'm thinking it's a bull frog."

A group of neighborhood children stood by watching taking bets if it was a dog or a big old frog that was causing the noise they heard.

The Gwinnett emergency vehicles along with camera crews from several media outlets brought out the neighbors to watch. "There's something in there for sure," said Simone Jarvis who lives nearby.

A Gwinnett Fire Technical Rescue Team searched the drain thoroughly but found no animal trapped.

"Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera (TIC) to check for a heat signature within the pipe at various points," said Capt. Tommy Rutledge, spokesperson for the fire department.

"Firefighters were able to see inside the pipe from the creek to the culvert and from the culvert to the retention area.  They saw no signs of an animal in the pipe and there were no heat signatures that would indicate the presence of a body.

Firefighters surmised that the noise the neighbors heard was perhaps an echo from nearby. "This was pretty much a good intent call from a concerned citizen.  Firefighters were thankful that there was no animal in need of rescue," said Rutledge.

"No dog, no frog," said Jarvis with a laugh afterwards. Then she turned and headed back in her house. The excitement on Balboa Court was over.