Shropshire fire crews roped in for dog rescue
If a dog is for life and not just for Christmas, one young pooch may be thanking his stars he will enjoy the festive season after being saved from plummeting into a disused quarry.
Fire crews were called to the steep slopes of a former quarry in Pant, near Oswestry, where 10-month-old Charlie had managed to get stuck. His owners above were worried they would never be reunited with him again.
The alarm was raised at about 2.15pm yesterday when Charlie was found to have escaped from the family home near the Three Firs pub on the edge of the village.
He was discovered on a ledge above the nearby quarry close to Llanymynech Golf Club and the Welsh border. Operations officer Jon Temple, of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service who was at the scene along with two fire crews from Oswestry, said: "The family have a lovely property on the edge of a former quarry.
"The dog, a Doberman, went investigating and found a way through the fence. He managed to get down a very steep bank – and got stuck.
"It was far too steep for the owners to get down and retrieve him.
"They were obviously quite worried and distressed, but crews took control and assessed the situation. It took a while to get down there and to get the dog into the harness – because he is a big dog, about 45 kilograms."
Crews eventually managed to get Charlie trussed up and hauled back up the slope by about 4pm.
"The owners were obviously very happy that the dog had come up safe and sound," he said.
The area is on the edge of the Llanymynech Rocks Nature Reserve, which has been mined and quarried since Roman times when it is known to have had a copper mine.
More recently limestone has been quarried in the area.
