Fire fighters in the Flemish Brabant municipality of Tervuren spent three hours digging in order to free a family pet that had got stuck down a foxhole. The dog had been let of its leash while out on a walk in Tervuren Park. The dachshund had set its sights on catching a fox that it had spotted in the park. The dog chased the fox down a fox hole, where it got stuck.
Tervuren
Fire fighters dig for three hours to rescue dachshund from foxhole
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On Sunday afternoon the Fire Service received a call to help an animal in distress in Tervuren Park in Flemish Brabant. A dachshund had got stuck down a foxhole.
Fire Service Captain Wieland Verboomen told VRT News that "The dog’s owner was unable to get him back out”.
“We immediately started excavation work”, Captain Wieland joked. "But the more we dug, the further the dog crawled into the fox den. We heard the dog barking all the time and there was even a short fight between the dog and the fox”.
Thanks to the persistence of the fire fighters and a team from the animal welfare organisation Animal Rescue the dog was freed after around three hours of digging. The animal was returned to his owner safe and well. The fox was a little shocked but its den remained pretty much intact", Captain Verboomen told VRT News.
Tail
"Apparently the dog has a very strong hunting instinct which is why he went deeper and deeper into the foxhole”. It was the first time that the dog had been down a foxhole.
"The previous day he had jumped down one while chasing a fox, but then the owner was able to grab his tail and pull her dog back out”, Captain Wieland said. The Fire Service advises dog owners to keep their pets on a leash where necessary.