English terrier stuck underground for 2 days rescued from badger warren

A very English story of peril and rescue comes from Nottinghamshire, where a man’s terrier was stuck underground for 2 days after getting lost in a badger warren.

Cello, a 6-year-old parson Russell terrier, was out walking with his owner Stephen Smith when he was let off his leash to explore a field, as he had often done before.

This time, Cello became overly-interested in the network of tunnels dug by badgers. Venturing within, he quickly got turned around, lost and stuck, leaving Smith to call for help.”I took him and one of his friends out for a walk and they disappeared. After a while, the other dog came back, but Cello didn’t, so I went searching for him. The other dog helped me locate where he was,” Smith told the BBC.

Volunteers from Notts Lost Dog were on the case, as were the local fire department, but they first had to obtain a license from Natural England to dig into the badger warren. Badgers are a protected species in the UK and disturbing their burrows without a permit is punishable by up to 6 months in prison and an unlimited fine.

“It was very worrying because we didn’t know whether it was an active badger,” said Notts Lost Dog’s Kim Jefcott. “Badgers are very protective and can be aggressive if they feel threatened, so we were concerned for Cello’s safety.”

The permit was issued just in time for the rescue team, along with assistance from Natural England, to locate Cello using a camera and dig a shaft 2 feet down into the network of tunnels to extract him.

Jefcott said he was clearly stressed, and his eyes were sore from getting dirt in them, and from staring into the dark.

Smith added that after eating and drinking — and sleeping 24 hours straight — Cello is back to his normal self again.