Crack rescue team save beloved pet pooch trapped for 27 hours in 15-foot hole after chasing rabbit under a patio
The pooch was chasing a rabbit into a culvert which collapsed
FIREFIGHTERS specialising in disasters saved a dog trapped 27 hours in a tunnel 15ft under a garden.
The nine-hour mission in the night involved camera and listening gear normally used in incidents like building collapses.
After locating the patterdoodle called Moppit, they dug into water tunnels with machinery to reach her.
The pooch had chased a rabbit into a culvert, which collapsed.
Owner Rachel Stormonth-Darling, of Iwerne Minster, Dorset, heard her lost pet whimpering from under the patio of a neighbour after the black dog had been missing for 18 hours.
Rachel, who runs a Dorset travel website, said: "I was scouring the garden when I noticed the stream had gone dry, which had never happened before.
"I put my ear to the connecting tunnel and heard Moppit.
"Then I walked into my neighbours garden and heard her again, this time much more clearly, through a drain and called the fire department."
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The search and rescue unit were called to excavate the garden.
Crews had to dig two holes in Mr Gleave’s garden using a heavy-breaking machine.
The first was an exploratory hole in order to send a small camera down and the second was above the tunnel where Moppit was trapped.
Once they had reached the roof of the tunnel they broke a hole in it to pull Moppit out.
They were assisted by neighbour and local history buff Michael Orham who has lived in the village for over 30 years and knows the formation of the underground tunnels.
He advised the firefighters where to dig.
Stuart Gillion, Dorset Fire & Rescue Service station manager who led the rescue, said: "I attended the scene and found the owner trying to shift the dirt with her bare hands, we had to convince her from going underground herself.
"I decided we needed additional expertise and called in the Urban Search and Rescue Unit, whose highly trained officers made the rescue possible.
"After identifying the dog's location we drew up a map on a whiteboard and dug a hole before one of our smaller team members recovered her.
"Moppit was very dirty and thirsty but the owner was very relieved.
"It was a good rescue with great teamwork and a happy ending."
Rachel, 53, said: “The rescue team was incredible. I thought there was no chance she would get out of there.”
"The drilling through the ground was extraordinary - like a knife through butter.
"It was amazing to have her back in my arms, I was in complete shock.
"I'm so relieved that the whole ordeal ended happily for Moppit, she's the luckiest dog alive.
"It makes you realise how lucky we are in this country to have people who can do this."