Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Deaf blind dog search continues
The search for a deaf and blind dog of 18, which has fallen down a hole on a south Wales' hillside is continuing sporadically into the night.
Rescuers are using their hands, pick axes and shovels to try to reach Jack Russell cross Sprogget, who vanished under old mine workings in Torfaen.
Rescuers have heard him whimpering under the ground on British Hill between Pantygasseg and Varteg.
An excavator and robot cameras were also used in the search on Thursday.
The rescuers were lighting the scene using a generator and their helmet lamps.
It is thought the hole, which Sprogget has fallen into, opened up on top of the old workings from the former Six Bells colliery nearby.
A team of around 15 rescuers spent much of Thursday trying to reach the dog in an operation which has estimated to have cost £1,000.
They used an excavator to dig between two and three metres below the surface but after a time could no longer use the machine because they are near Sprogget. Robot cameras were also employed in the search.
Mick Doyle from the Coal Authority said the rescue team had already heard the dog beneath the surface.
"We've got a couple of holes where we can hear Sprogget. The one we're digging in now is where we've had the loudest sound from him.
"The fissure's quite open below ground, so we're just trying to dig the top surface away.
"We're trying to get into a position where we can either get deeper into the fissure or possibly one of the guys can go down and try to locate him."
On Wednesday, the RSPCA and the fire service searched for the dog.
On Thursday, mine rescue experts were brought in to assist, along with an excavator.
Sprogget's owner, New Zealander David Sandford, who moved to the area in April, said he believed the hole on the hillside had opened up after recent rain.
Initially he had feared Sprogget might not have survived the first night.
He said: "This is the biggest event of his life so far so I just hope he comes out of it."
The search for a deaf and blind dog of 18, which has fallen down a hole on a south Wales' hillside is continuing sporadically into the night.
Rescuers are using their hands, pick axes and shovels to try to reach Jack Russell cross Sprogget, who vanished under old mine workings in Torfaen.
Rescuers have heard him whimpering under the ground on British Hill between Pantygasseg and Varteg.
An excavator and robot cameras were also used in the search on Thursday.
The rescuers were lighting the scene using a generator and their helmet lamps.
It is thought the hole, which Sprogget has fallen into, opened up on top of the old workings from the former Six Bells colliery nearby.
A team of around 15 rescuers spent much of Thursday trying to reach the dog in an operation which has estimated to have cost £1,000.
They used an excavator to dig between two and three metres below the surface but after a time could no longer use the machine because they are near Sprogget. Robot cameras were also employed in the search.
Mick Doyle from the Coal Authority said the rescue team had already heard the dog beneath the surface.
"We've got a couple of holes where we can hear Sprogget. The one we're digging in now is where we've had the loudest sound from him.
"The fissure's quite open below ground, so we're just trying to dig the top surface away.
"We're trying to get into a position where we can either get deeper into the fissure or possibly one of the guys can go down and try to locate him."
On Wednesday, the RSPCA and the fire service searched for the dog.
On Thursday, mine rescue experts were brought in to assist, along with an excavator.
Sprogget's owner, New Zealander David Sandford, who moved to the area in April, said he believed the hole on the hillside had opened up after recent rain.
Initially he had feared Sprogget might not have survived the first night.
He said: "This is the biggest event of his life so far so I just hope he comes out of it."
