A West Lothian gran thought her dog had died after it was buried alive whilst out on a walk. Paula Dahl was out for a stroll with her beloved pet, Ronny, at Murieston Castle Dog Park in Livingston on Friday, March 10, when he scurried down a rabbit hole and got stuck under collapsing soil.
The Yorkie-Shitzu cross was ultimately buried overnight, sparking an 18-hour search. Paula began hunting for five-year-old Ronny on Friday night until friends forced her to call it a night, commencing the search again on Saturday morning.
After 18 hours, the devastated owner began losing hope and believed Ronny was dead until local dog maverick Hazel Gowans was called out to help. Paula told Edinburgh Live: "I was back out at 6.30am on Saturday morning but I wasn't getting anywhere. I contacted Hazel at 10.30am and she just swung into action.
The 60-year-old described how she and her eight-year-old grandson watched in disbelief as Hazel took over the rescue. Paula said: "She had dislocated her knee but she just doped herself up on pain meds and assembled a team - she met us within the hour.
"Hazel had her rescue dog Thor with her and she gave him something to get my scent and he led us straight to the burrow Ronny was stuck in. He looked straight down the deep hole and Ronny confirmed with a bark that he was stuck in there.
"As soon as we knew where he was she was on her hands and knees digging him out, the mud was packed so tightly around him he couldn't move or get out."
Paula continued: "My eight-year-old grandson said it was the most intense thing he had ever seen, the experience was terrifying. We got him out just after 1pm and took him to the vet. Apart from having a scratch on his eye he was absolutely fine but I'm still in shock - I thought he was dead.
"Hazel was hysterical trying to find him really quickly. She has a heat-detecting camera and was ready to get a drone in - she even brought a disposable BBQ and said we could cook some sausages so the scent would lure him out - she would have tried anything."
Hazel has trained her dog to trace scents coordinated the rescue mission. She said: "Wee Ronny went missing at Murieston at 4pm on Friday and was tracked by Thor to a rabbit warren and to a specific hole nearby the one his owner thought he had gone down.
"Some of the earth was moved and Thor managed to confirm that Ronny was behind a caved-in channel. Ronny in turn managed to bark confirming he was stuck in the hole. The earth above and below was dug out gently by hand as it was very soft and at risk of caving in further."
She added: "After managing to expose Ronny's head and a couple of nervous nips to my hand Ronny was calmed down by his mum's voice and scent.
"This allowed me to work around him to release his head, shoulders and front paws and Ronny assisted by helping to dig himself out. He emerged unfazed and filthy but looked none the worse for wear when he was comforted by his mum and family."
Hazel runs a dog tracking service, called Muzzle Mutts, that uses thermal scopes, drones, live cameras, humane traps and microchip technology to find lost dogs and catch them. You can find out more about her page here.
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