Eight-year-old Ben after being rescued from the near 20-metre fall the tomo. Photo / Thomas Williams
A precious farm dog has actually been recused untouched after falling 20 metres down a hole on his family’s farm and has rapidly end up being a regional legend his owner says.
8-year-old Ben is a cattle-chasing Beardie who has actually just recently moved a way of life block in Te Kūiti. He’s been next to his owner Thomas Williams for the last 6 years, who calls him “part of the family”.
Williams said he initially understood Ben, was missing out on Tuesday night, however this wasn’t uncommon for his precious animal, who was frequently keen on chasing after hares throughout the night. When he didn’t return Wednesday early morning, he understood something was wrong.
“The next morning when I was shifting stock had a look around the tomo again that we were fencing and I could hear a faint sort of banging noise and when I called his name I was pretty sure it was his tail banging away, wagging,” Williams said.
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“So then he started to wimp a little bit and I knew he was down the hole.”
A tomo is a shaft frequently discovered on farms, formed by water disintegration on limestone or volcanic rock.
Williams said it was a mix of relief and worry when he discovered him down there, up until now down he couldn’t even see his animal, and likewise a little awkward.
“It was just sort of a little bit embarrassing because we’d only just moved to the property four weeks ago,” Williams said.
First, the Te Kuiti volunteer fire brigade was called, however when they understood they didn’t have the equipment to pull Ben out, they employed the help of the Hamilton level 3 line rescue group.
Te Kūiti volunteer fire brigade senior station officer Hayden Sheedy said they existed as the rescue happened, and called it a “miracle” the dog left untouched.
“So, yeah, [the tomo] was probably 34 metres wide by 15 to 20 metres deep, so and quite long,” Sheedy said
“We couldn’t see the bottom of it, we could hear being at the bottom, but couldn’t actually see him.”
A rescuer geared up with a dog harness was decreased into the deep hole and was providing commentary as he went to notify his terrified owner on top his animal was discovered happy and unscathed.
Williams joked Ben left unscathed due to the quantity of hair that covered him.
“He’s a pretty fluffy dog, so it might have been all the hair,” Williams joked.
Williams said the story of Ben’s rescue has actually spread out rapidly, and he has actually ended up being a “local legend”.
Ben is presently on some much-needed kennel rest, William said this might suggest an early retirement for his veteran friend, something well was worthy of after several years of chasing after livestock.
“He’s eating and he’s, you know, drinking and, and he’s keen to come back out on the farm, but we’ve got sort of tell him he’s not allowed,” Williams said.
“He might have earned his early retirement.”
