Dog search gets Poppy out of a hole

Quarry staff at Whatley came to the rescue when Jack Russell Poppy went missing.

The dog was being walked in fields adjacent to the Somerset site when it spotted a rabbit, chased it through the boundary fence – and disappeared. The owner contacted the quarry, a radio alert was issued and staff combed the area, but drew a blank.

Next day, the owner took production manager Andy Fussell back to the spot where the dog had gone missing. “We searched the boundary and benches but found nothing,” said Andy. “But while walking back to the truck, we heard a dog bark from within the screening bank.”

Plant operator Kevin Hamblin was called out with a JCB to remove a large slab of rock covering the place the bark had been heard, but there was no sign of the dog. The pair then spotted movement in another hole a couple of yards up the embankment, scraped away some earth, roots and large rocks and the trapped animal was freed after nearly 24 hours – to the delight of both dog and owner.