Birker2020
Well-Known Member
Thank you to West Midlands Fire Service (Solihull Fire Station) and also to USAR (Urban Search & Rescue) for the brilliant work they did in freeing a Patterdale Terrier from a badger set at Solihull Riding Club last Friday. My other half who works and lives on site as a groundsman/caretaker was first notified at 4pm Thursday evening when the dog was being walked by its owner who was a dog walking member of the club. The dog had managed to get loose from the lady and bolted down a badger set dragging its lead after it. The owner hadnt seen which set it had gone down so after an hour of fruitless searching and calling for the dog the RSPCA and Fire Brigade were called. The Fire Brigade from Solihull Station attended and soon sized up the situation but could not begin the process of digging until they had obtained a certificate from the RSPCA and DEFRA due to the fact that it was an active badger set. That night the owners camped out in their car on the cross country course opposite the badger set in the hope the dog would come out. It wasnt known at that stage if the dog was still alive or not if it had run into a badger down the set the badger would have ripped its throat out. The following morning my OH got up at 6am and trudged down to the set and tried calling for the dog. He thought he detected a very, very faint noise coming from the hole so when the Fire Brigade arrived later that morning he told them what he knew. They had a container equipped with equipment that had attended disaster scenes abroad, digging out earthquake victims and the like and they used vibration monitoring equipment to try to locate the dog in the vicinity of the set my OH had heard the noises coming from. The certificate was eventually granted and was brought to the scene by an RSPCA officer who was accompanied by someone from DEFRA. Eventually the digging commenced. I shot round to the club after work and watched as they put a camera down the hole. The chap from USAR called Jobbo jumped out of his skin when something bit the camera lens, and they thought it was a badger, but he put the camera down again and located the tags on the dogs collar. It was a really emotional moment when they said that theyd seen the dogs tags on its collar and the dog was alive I started crying!! The owner Jane gave me a big hug. The dog was caught up on tree roots in the den by its lead, so all the calling in the world hadnt made any difference, it was literally stuck fast, poor thing. Eventually Jobbo managed to get the collar off the dog and he pulled the dog out of the hole, and the dog was totally unscathed, a little hungry but that was it after being down the set for 27 hours!!
My OH and his colleagues are going to fill the hole back over again but they need to put a tube down there to let the badger get out first. The fireman and USAR worked tirelessly and without complaint, and they were a great bunch of people. I discovered loads of things about searching and wildlife and it was really interesting. People might say its only a dog what a waste of time and money but it is also a invaluable training exercise for the people working the rescue, who without their help the dog would certainly have died. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those wonderful people x
My OH and his colleagues are going to fill the hole back over again but they need to put a tube down there to let the badger get out first. The fireman and USAR worked tirelessly and without complaint, and they were a great bunch of people. I discovered loads of things about searching and wildlife and it was really interesting. People might say its only a dog what a waste of time and money but it is also a invaluable training exercise for the people working the rescue, who without their help the dog would certainly have died. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those wonderful people x