Olive, the two-year-old Red Fox Labrador Retriever, has returned home safely after being stuck down a mine shaft for four days.
The lab was found last Monday, by a volunteer involved in the search, in the large mine shaft just off Ringinglow Road, Sheffield.
Olive is said to be in good health and is “very lucky” that she was found.
Olive reunited with her family.
HART SAR, the Homebound Animal Response Team based all over South and West Yorkshire, received the information of Olive’s disappearance from members of the community and quickly coordinated a rescue team consisting of drone pilots, ground searchers with a sniffer dog and many volunteers.
Despite efforts to find Olive the night she went missing and setting up cameras within the vicinity to see if she came through during the night, the team of searchers were initially unlucky.
After four long days, Olive was found.
Olive being rescued by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue retrieved Olive from the shaft, and she was finally reunited with her owner, Jo Belton and the rest of the family.
Annie Lake, from HART SAR, said: “She came out of there and went running back to mum and dad. Her tail was going faster than I think she could control and seeing faces of Jo and her family being reunited, it makes your heart skip a beat.”
The mine shaft has now been fenced off for preparation to fill in the hole, so it is no longer a risk and to avoid this ordeal happening again.
The mine shaft in which Olive was found.
Annie Lake said: “A dog is truly a man’s best friend and we have had some wild rescues in the past, but Olive is by far one of those unique ones.
“We are all generally surprised and so thankful that little Olive, that little survivor managed to keep herself going for four days.”
Olive is now home safe with her family.
Olive’s story received an outpour of support on Facebook, with many happy to see her having returned home safe and sound.
