a blast of air and a Jack Russle

[davet]

A SMALL dog stuck in a narrow stormwater drain in suburban Melbourne has been rescued after five hours of digging.

Firefighters used spades to dig three deep holes in a rescue bid that continued until about 10pm (AEST) last night.
But Barney the Jack Russell terrier was reunited with his owner only after a "massive blast" of cold air.

The Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board said Barney was enjoying a walk with his owner, in Queen Street, Altona Meadows, about 5pm, when he ventured up the drainpipe in parkland behind a basketball stadium.

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"From the yelps and whimpering, it was plain Barney had crawled in quite some distance, making his rescue that much harder," Commander Ken Brown said.

"Firefighters took a guess at his location and dug down about 1.5 metres to locate the pipe.

"After listening again for Barney's heartbreaking cries, they estimated the dog was about 8 metres further in and (they) made a second hole."

But that effort also failed, and Mr Brown said it appeared the dog had moved further into the pipe out of alarm at the sound of the digging.

A third hole was then dug.

"An opening was eventually made in the drain both in front of and behind Barney and a number of methods were employed to try and coax the tiny dog out of the pipe," he said.

"Finally, firefighters used a massive blast of cold air from one of their breathing apparatus cylinders and forced Barney to crawl out of the pipe and into his owners arms."

The dog was assessed at the scene by the RSPCA and found to be uninjured.