Dramatic photos show rescue of trapped dog by Coalville fire crew at woodland near Heather

By Graham Hill

3rd Mar 2022 | Local News

Leicestershire Fire Service have released pictures of the dog rescue at Diamond Jubilee Wood yesterday (Tuesday).

A Coalville fire crew was among those who rescued a dog that has been trapped in a badgers' sett for more than 60 hours.

The alarm was raised shortly before noon when the sound of a dog in distress was heard at the woodland between Normanton Le Heath and Heather.

And these photos show the work that went on to free the animal.

Technical Rescue Appliances and one appliance from Coalville arrived at the scene along with the RSPCA, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service reported this afternoon.

A spokesperson for the county fire service said: "Call received from dog owner asking for help with a dog stuck down a badgers' sett for more than 60 hours.

"The RSPCA were in attendance.

"Crews were mobilised with specialist listening and locating devices.

"The sound of dog has been located and more resources have been requested to assist with digging to release the dog."

But the fire service later reported: "The dog has been located and rescued by Fire Service now in the hands of the owner and RSPCA.

"Badgers Sett believed to be non-active."

BBC East Midlands Today reported that the RSPCA said Winston disappeared into the sett on Saturday and his owners, Heather and Alex Peake from Newton Burgoland, spent hours calling for him.

The report added that badger setts are protected and it is advised a dog must be left for 48 hours before any action is taken.

A request then has to be made to Natural England for a licence to dig the dog out.

"The last few days had been awful," said Ms Peake.

"We felt so helpless knowing Winston was trapped. When the firefighters began searching we really thought we had already lost him and we were mentally preparing ourselves for the worst.

"I just burst into more tears when we finally saw his little face poking out of the mud."

The fire service said they were able to establish the dog's position using specialist listening and locating devices.

After nearly five hours, crews were able release to the dog by digging it out from the ground.

The fire service said the sett was not believed to be active.

RSPCA inspector Sue Haywood said: "The fire service did an amazing job carefully digging him out of the tunnel.

"The moment he was finally rescued was just brilliant - we were all just over the moon and despite his ordeal he was relatively unscathed."

Ms Peake said the three-year-old "miracle" dog was exhausted and in shock but was recovering well.

     

New coalville Jobs Section Launched!!
Vacancies updated hourly!!
Click here: coalville jobs

Share:

Related Articles

Many of the Christmas in Coalville events are planned to go ahead as planned. Photo: North West Leicestershire District Council
Local News

Council issues weather update for Christmas in Coalville as Storm Bert affects region

The recently modified property in Coalville could be turned into a children's home. Photo: Lux Architecture/North West Leicestershire District Council
Local News

'Desperately needed' children's home plans at Coalville property are submitted to District Council

Sign-Up for our FREE Newsletter

We want to provide coalville with more and more clickbait-free local news.
To do that, we need a loyal newsletter following.
Help us survive and sign up to our FREE weekly newsletter.

Already subscribed? Thank you. Just press X or click here.
We won't pass your details on to anyone else.
By clicking the Subscribe button you agree to our Privacy Policy.