Dog dig crew to the rescue!
FIREFIGHTERS saved the life of a four-year-old dachshund which had become wedged underground.
Ana was playing outside when strong winds blew open the gate, allowing her into a part of the garden with fox holes.
When Samantha Hall and her husband Graham went to search for Ana at about 11am on Monday last week they could not see any sign of her – but could hear her faint barking coming from underground.
Samantha, 58, of The Bridle, Glen Parva, said: “We knew there were foxes in the area but didn’t realise there were all these fox holes.
“Graham realised Ana had gone into a hole and tried to reach her but she panicked and moved further underground. We could hear her crying and barking.”
After their attempts to get to Ana were unsuccessful, the couple called 999. Samantha, a police civilian staff member, said: “I thought we were never going to get to her and that she would die down there.”
They called the fire service at about 12.15pm and a crew of rescue specialists from Southern station, in Leicester, went out to see how they could help.
They used snake-eye cameras on rods that are designed for fighting chimney fires to explore the fox holes.
Samantha said: “They were amazing. They arrived within half an hour and were putting cameras down, digging holes and trying to locate her.
“We were there with squeaky toys and ham, trying to coax her out. But when the cameras spotted her, she was clearly stuck.”
The next stage of the operation was to get down to Ana to pull her out.
After more digging, a female firefighter, who was the smallest on the crew, went head-first into the hole, grabbed Ana and managed to get her free.
Samantha said: “Ana was panicking and had mud in her eyes but she was unscathed and we’re so grateful to the firefighters for saving her.”
A spokeswoman for the fire service said: “We were called at 12.13pm to a report of a dachshund that had gone down a fox hole.
“They used snake-eye cameras to locate the dog and managed to dig it out with shovels.
“The dog was reunited with its owners safe and well and the crew left at 2pm.”