Lucy the Dachshund had to be dug out of a badger sett by firefighters — after spending SIX DAYS trapped underground. The five-year-old dog darted down the hole after running away from her owners John and Janet West during a country walk and became wedged EIGHT FEET down.
The stricken sausage dog was eventually unearthed using a mechanical digger in a delicate three hour operation using a variety of types of high-tech equipment.
The first the Wests knew of Lucy's disappearance was when they found her mother Kizzy sitting at the entrance to the sett with a puzzled look on her face. For hours they called for Lucy but, unable to find her anywhere, realized she must have gone down the badger hole in Hampshire's New Forest.
Over the next five days the couple tried to coax the dog out by leaving her favorite food of hot tripe at the entrance of the hole.
The worried couple alerted the RSPCA, the fire service and the Forestry Commission to obtain special licences from Natural England to check the sett at Heavens Gate, Shoot Wood. The fire service set up specialist listening equipment and a "snake eye camera" was sent underground to examine the network of tunnels but could find no sign of Lucy.
The Wests visited the sett every day and then on the fifth day Mr. West detected a faint whimper using a listening probe made with a plastic funnel and pipe.
Mr. West, 58, said: "The whimper kept repeating itself. At first I thought I was imagining it but then I realized it was for real. It was such a relief."
The fire service were then able to get permission to carefully dig her out of the sett in the New Forest the following morning. Echo locating equipment was used to pinpoint Lucy's position and nearby Turf Croft Farm supplied a mini-digger to unearth her from a chamber eight feet down. She eventually emerged with a very big whimper following the painstaking three hour rescue operation.
Mrs. West, 60, said: "I couldn't believe it. I saw this little nose pop out then she shook her head and crawled out of the hole. She squealed at us and her tail started wagging straight away. We were overjoyed. The efforts of the rescue team were simply amazing."
Lucy, whose head is now a little bald where her fur rubbed off in the hole, spent a day sleeping off her ordeal but has been declared healthy by a vet.
The Wests, who run a guest house in Burley, praised her rescuers and said they would make a donation to Hampshire Fire and Rescue's Animal Rescue Team.
The service's animal rescue specialist Anton Phillips said: "I think they were very lucky to get their dog back. She was extremely resilient."
He said badgers have been known to kill dogs that enter their lairs. Lucy had crawled down the hole on October 24 and was finally dug out on October 30.
~Courtesy of TheSun.co.uk~
Wow, lucky Lucy!!
Very lucky! If Lucy's mother Kizzy hadn't tried to tell West's she was down there they may never have known. What a smart mommy Lucy has! I'm glad she was found and is alright.
posted by Kar57
20 days ago
I am happy for all of them. What a scare.
OMG - thank goodness for the tenacious puppy and their owners. Also to the rescue people themselves. Glad the doxie was OK.
Great
story,
GG!
Lucy
looks
relieived
to
be
in
her
Moms
arms,
doesnt
she?
Sorry-
my
computer
is
broken.
If
I
try
to
type
normally,
thisiswhatitlookslike!
Oh Marjorie! Either way, I love reading what you have to say!
I read about this on Foxnews.com. Amazing!
she is so blissfully relieved to be with those who love her. One of the great things dogs teach us--be glad to see the ones you love after 5 days, after 5 minutes...
