East Auckland dogs rescued
It took eight firefighters 20 minutes to free a dog’s trapped paw with a hacksaw on Wednesday morning in east Auckland.
Two fire trucks and their crews were summoned to Madill’s Farm reserve in Kohimarama at 7am to rescue Flynn, a young huntaway-cross.
Station Officer Hamish Macdonald, of the St Heliers fire brigade, said the dog had been walking with its owner when it ’’somehow stuck its hind leg through an eye bolt attached to a bollard’’.
‘‘It was a bit of a precision exercise to free the dog — the hacksaw blade was very close to the leg,’’ he said.
Flynn’s paw emerged from the bolt, unscathed, after 20 minutes of sawing.
‘‘It was very relaxed throughout the procedure, which helped,’’ said Macdonald.
Eight firefighters attended, but only four were involved in the actual rescue.
Macdonald said the dog’s owner was going to take him to the vet for a check-up.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Remuera fire brigade received a call from another dog owner who’s dog had fallen down a rabbit hole near the Remuera Golf Club.
‘‘The dog was stuck a couple of metres down a rabbit hole, the brigade rescued the dog at about 2.05 pm,’’ shift manager Paul Radden said.
The fire crew dug the border collier terrier cross out using a spade, shovel and hands, Radden said.
‘‘They dug a hole near the dog to avoid hurting it and then dug towards the dog and a firefighter managed to reach in and get it out.’’