One of the two unlucky pups that became stuck in a wombat den. Photos: Fire and Rescue NSW Station 286 Eden/Facebook.
Two pet pups are recovering at home after their beach fun took a turn for the worse.
At Aslings Beach at Eden, in the Bega Valley on the NSW South Coast, a group of beachgoers thought they heard a missing dog barking.
Fire and Rescue Eden officers were called to the scene on Monday afternoon (7 July), but no one could find a trace of the mystery dog.
Unit captain Zlatko Nemec told Region they found the animal in an unexpected place.
“We started looking around the vicinity of where they thought they heard the noise … we came across this wombat hole,” he said.
“We thought, ‘Let’s have a look inside’, and there’s this big dog with two big eyes looking at you.”
The six firefighters started strategising the rescue.
After a closer inspection, they realised the dog was stuck inside a burrow dug into a sand dune, with a tree root stopping him from crawling out.
“It does happen quite regularly, where a dog chases a rabbit into a hole. Once he goes in, he either gets stuck or the hole collapses,” Captain Nemec said.
“It’s a new one for us because we’d never dug a dog out of a wombat hole!”
Wombat burrows can be up to 30 metres long and several metres deep, according to the NSW Government’s Environment and Heritage website.
Firies cut the tree root and used shovels to dig under the dog so they could pull him out, keeping a careful eye on the dune’s stability.
“The concern was we needed to be careful [in digging into] the side of the dune because it could collapse on top of the dog or on top of the firefighters,” Captain Nemec said.
“If this collapses, we’ll lose the dog and we could lose a firefighter.”
The two dogs were trapped under a sand dune. Photo: Fire and Rescue NSW Station 286 Eden/Facebook.
The firies were able to rescue the dog, but moments later, they had double trouble on their hands.
“He was in such a poor state of stress that he couldn’t even walk, the poor thing,” Captain Nemec said.
“We started to comfort him, and all of a sudden, his accomplice came out of the hole!”
The wombat wasn’t nearby, with the rescuers having “a bit of a giggle” at the thought he was having a summer holiday in another burrow.
Captain Nemec said the dogs were in a stable condition and released from the vet shortly after their ordeal.
Fire and Rescue Eden popped both dogs into the firetruck and took them to Eden Veterinary Clinic for a check-up.
“The vets knew who the owner of the older dog was because he’s been there before,” Captain Nemec said.
“They weren’t sure about the younger one, but [it turned out] the family had another dog.”
After being given some water (and some treats), the wayward pooches were taken home.
Captain Nemec said the dogs escaped when the owner’s children accidentally left a gate open.
His theory was that the dogs headed to the beach and sought shelter after being spooked by thunder.
“[The burrow was] the first place they found refuge in,” he said.
“The older one must have known its way out [of the burrow], so it started crawling on its belly to get out of the hole … unfortunately, he got stuck in the situation.”
For Captain Nemec, the one-of-a-kind rescue was welcomed by firies.
“Most of our stories are quite grim, over the years, where people lose their lives or their homes … and other things we attend,” he said.
“This is one of the better stories.”
