Deaf dog rescued from a rabbit hole after 30 hours stuck inside

Deaf cocker spaniel Dizzy disappeared during a walk with owner Duncan Flowers in Burlish Top, Worcestershire, on Sunday (January 3).

"We went for a walk over Burlish Top with the two dogs on Sunday," Duncan said.

"We were on the way back home when Dizzy went into a hedgerow between two fields and disappeared.

"I went round the other side but she was gone. I hung around for a couple of hours thinking she had run off and would come back but I couldn't find her."

Duncan, 54, put out an appeal on social media and was overwhelmed when a group of 70 people turned out with flashlights to help search for Dizzy until after midnight.

"I went back home and put a post on social media and people started phoning up left, right and center offering to help look for her," he said.

"From about 5 p.m. until after midnight, about 70 people were out looking for her with flashlights all over the Rifle Range and Blackstone but no one could find her.

"Someone suggested taking a coat or blanket and leaving it where I'd last seen her in case she came back but I got up at 6 a.m. the next morning and there was still no sign of her.

But after having no joy, Duncan almost gave up hope of finding his pet when he decided to return to the spot where she went missing from the following morning.

After noticing a rabbit hole in a nearby field, Duncan called a friend who arrived with a JBC digger and they began to dig on the off chance Dizzy might be there.

"I phoned the dog warden, the vets, put up posts online and then I thought to myself, she must still be in that hedgerow," Duncan said.

"I went back with a shovel and phoned a mate who works down the drains and he came and put a camera down a rabbit hole.

"We started digging, we didn't even know she was in there, but I just had an inkling.

Flowers and his pals were left gobsmacked when the ten-year-old mutt "popped up out of nowhere" covered in dirt from down the 20 ft (6m) hole.

Adorable footage shows the moment the shaking pooch was lifted from the hole and reunited with an emotional Duncan as onlookers cheered.

"Two and a half hours later - we were about 20 feet in to the hole and about 10 foot deep - she just popped up out of no where. It was like a miracle," he said.

"She had been in there for about 30 hours. I couldn't believe it.

"I wrapped her up in my coat and carried her back home.

"She was shaking and shivering but as soon as I opened the door she ran straight in the house, tail wagging and started eating and drinking. She wasn't injured thankfully.

"It's just brilliant to have her back home."