Canterbury fox terrier Myrtle literally went ‘down the rabbit hole’, resulting in a mammoth effort by firefighters to rescue her.
The 16-year-old canine regularly chases rabbits but got herself stuck after she followed one down its hole under her owners’ Ridge Rd house in Lincoln on Saturday.
Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade station officer Dylan Bryant said the owners tried unsuccessfully to free Myrtle from the hole under the deck.
“They could hear her cries getting weaker, so they phoned 111,” Bryant said.
They spent the next two hours cutting through the deck and digging underneath the home’s concrete foundations to get Myrtle out.
“It was really difficult because we could hear her sometimes crying but didn’t know exactly where from,” Bryant said.
“It was relatively high-risk but definitely worth the reward when the dog’s life was at stake.”
The rabbit was rescued first, followed shortly after by Myrtle.
“She was about 1m under the concrete slab,” Bryant said.
Despite spending the night underground, Myrtle was in good health.
But she immediately tried to head back under the house to find the rabbit.
“She literally ran straight back towards the rabbit hole,” Bryant said.
While it was not a common job for the crew, Bryant said it was good practice to work in a confined space.
“It was a pretty abnormal job for us.”
