Do you recognise 'Badger'? RSPCA search for dog's owner after amazing rescue from water-filled shaft

A dog walker, RSPCA officers and firefighters have pulled off an amazing rescue to save a dog from a waterlogged 15-foot shaft - and now the search is on to reunite him with his family.

A man walking his dogs on an area of wasteland known locally as Phoenix Sidings - in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham - on 12 April spotted that a lid covering a large hole in the ground was partially open. He looked down, and saw an animal stuck at the bottom of the 4.5 metre-deep concrete shaft. After calling the RSPCA for help, Inspectors Steph Baines and Krissy Raine rushed to the scene.

Inspector Baines said: “It was a complete stroke of luck that the man was in the area as he never walked his dogs there before. It’s also incredibly lucky that he was interested enough to peer into the hole. But the biggest miracle is that he even spotted the animal at the bottom of the shaft, because it was incredibly dark and very deep.”

When he called, the dogwalker believed it was a badger stranded in the dirty water at the bottom of the shaft, she continued. “When we arrived we could only just see the animal but couldn’t be sure, so we took a video that was zoomed right in and spotted that it was in fact a dog.”

The shaft was deep and narrow, and the officers had no idea how deep the water in the bottom was or how frightened the dog was, so they called Cleveland Fire Brigade - and a crew from Thornaby came to help. A water rescue trained firefighter went down into the shaft in his flood suit to comfort the dog, and wrapped two lengths of fire hose around him.

Inspector Raine added: “We managed to get some of the hose under his chest and some under his hips like a sling, made sure he was safe, and then carefully lifted him up and out of the shaft.” They named the pup Badger, in honour of the mix-up over the frightened creature’s species.

“Badger was utterly exhausted when we finally reached him; if the man hadn’t found him when he did and we didn’t get him out so quickly, I have no doubt that he sadly would have drowned,” she said. “He was up to his neck and could barely keep his head above the water. He was giving up in front of our eyes and it was a real race against time.”

Inspector Baines said it took four people to carry the “huge” dog to her van, as the ordeal had left him too weak to stand. “We believe he’d been stuck at the bottom of the shaft for a number of days - possibly even a week - and the water he’d been sitting in was contaminated so it has blistered his skin,” she added.

The pup was still very weak and not out of the woods yet, but she said he was getting stronger every day - and he can now manage little walks. “His tail has even started wagging.”

The search is now on to find his owners, and reunite them. The large, grey and white mixed-breed dog was wearing a leather collar with brass studs and a black leather lead, and the animal welfare charity believed he may have run off during a walk and fallen into the hole. He was found to be microchipped - but the chip isn’t registered.

The pup is thought to be less than a year old. “Badger is lucky to be alive and he’s really lovely; a friendly, gentle giant. There must be someone out there who is missing him and wondering where he’s gone,” Inspector Baines said. “Please contact our appeal line on 0300 123 8018 if you know where he may have come from. We’d love to reunite him with his family.”