When you’re a tiny dog, even the smallest of holes or fissures can become as insurmountable as the Grand Canyon.
Bracken Jelier of Devon, England was out for a walk with her small dog, Flossie, when the dog darted off and went missing. Bracken searched high and low for the pooch, but she was nowhere to be found. In desperation, Bracken posted Flossie’s picture on Facebook with a desperate plea for help.
“Flossie is missing,” she wrote. “She’s been gone since yesterday morning. We think she may be down inside a particular rabbit warren. Does anyone have access to underground camera equipment or anything similar that could help try and locate her? Any ideas at all would help.”
Bracken was convinced that Flossie had been chasing a rabbit when she fell into a deep hole, which are common around their neighborhood. A neighbor named Tom Leary, who is a member of Mid Devon Hunt and an experienced tracker, saw the Facebook post and offered to help. He brought over his own scent dogs, and 56 hours after Flossie went missing, Tom’s dogs picked up her scent. Bracken had been right – she had fallen into a rabbit hole and was trapped underground!
Once they knew where she was, they had to unearth the little dog without injuring her. In a video, we see Tom using his bare hands to dig away the dirt from the terrified little dog’s face. “Oh, baby!” Bracken can be heard exclaiming as he works.
After several tense moments, he’s finally able to pull Flossie out of the dirt, delivering her straight into a very grateful Bracken’s arms.
“Thank you to everyone that has shared our post, come up with suggestions to help, and most importantly to Tom Leary for coming over here twice with his incredible dogs to search all of the rabbit holes in the area,” Bracken wrote. “Without him we would never have got her out and we will be eternally grateful.”
The best part? Flossie wasn’t injured at all, even after spending more than two days underground!
“We are over the moon to say that Flossie has been found,” Bracken shared. “It’s a very long story with some unbelievable coincidences that lead to her being discovered after 56 hours buried underground. We are incredibly pleased to have her home and other than being a little dehydrated and underweight she is absolutely fine.”
What a wild adventure! We’re happy that Bracken’s community came together to help her find her missing dog. Let’s hope Flossie doesn’t “go rabbiting” again any time soon.
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