Thirty kilograms of gold came out of a disused mine shaft last Friday - gold Labrador that is.
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Honey Bun was walking with owner Lynne Freeman, of Mogo, and her two other dogs, Biddy and Samuel, on a trail near Ross Ridge Road last Friday afternoon when the dogs went for a wander and only Biddy and Samuel came back.
“I could hear Honey Bun uttering a high-pitched woof,” Ms Freeman said.
Ms Freeman went back to her car and called friends Jenny and Peter McGann, who arrived and helped her find the mineshaft where Honey Bun was trapped, well obscured by vegetation.
“We saw that she was too far down, and went back and called Batemans Bay Police, who called Batemans Bay Fire and Rescue,” Ms Freeman said.
Both services soon arrived on the scene.
“We have had calls to rescue dogs before, but not from mineshafts,” Batemans Bay Fire and Rescue deputy captain Alan Fitches said.
Firefighter Rob Devonald was lowered down the shaft to Honey Bun, who was about seven metres down.
He harnessed her and he and the grateful pooch were brought up to the surface by the others.
“It was all very professional and it went very smoothly,” Ms Freeman said.
“I am very grateful that they saved her.”
Apart from some minor scrapes, Honey Bun was fine.
“The best part was that the dog wasn’t aggressive, but was cooperative instead,” deputy captain Alan Fitches said.
“We were relieved when we got the call that it was a Labrador and not a pit bull or a Rottweiler.”
It’s not the first time Honey Bun has fallen down a hole and needed rescuing.
In March, she fell down a three metre hole about 1.5km from last Friday’s hole, which was partially full of rainwater.
“I didn’t find her for 36 hours, and then my niece Tania Campbell actually jumped in and threw her out,” Ms Freeman said.