Team effort to rescue dog stuck in pipe

Everyone was very relieved to see Ruby the dog safe and sound

A local council, highways maintenance staff, firefighters and locals have rescued a dog which was stuck in a drainage pipe.

The dog, called Ruby, became covered in mud and water after getting stuck inside a drainage tunnel just outside Westbury in Wiltshire, firefighter Nathan Collins said.

The firefighter said the pipe was several metres long and a metre underground, but information from the council and the firefighter's kit meant they were able to dig down and get the dog out safely.

"She immediately wanted to jump up to everybody and get them completely covered in mud by giving them kisses and cuddles," said Mr Collins.

Ruby was not visible from the end of the tunnel and whilst fire crews are trained to rescue people from all sorts of situations, a small dog stuck in a drainage pipe presented its own set of risks, Mr Collins said.

"We were up against it a bit yesterday because of the torrential downpour that we had," he added.

"As the rain set in we realised quite quickly that the ditch and the tunnel she was in was starting to fill with water.

"My crew, who are phenomenal, were there on their hands and knees with buckets and pumps just bailing out as much water as possible to try and keep the drainage system dry."

Mr Collins said it was almost like "an epiphany" when the rain stopped, as officers from Wiltshire Council appeared soon after and were able to give them more details about the pipe and help them work out how to carry on with the rescue.

Ruby is now safe and sound back at home with her very relieved and very thankful owner.

"She was very apologetic and said how unlike Ruby it was, but we saw how cute Ruby was and we couldn't tell her off too much," said Mr Collins.