{"id":14099,"date":"2016-06-20T18:24:45","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T18:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=14099"},"modified":"2016-06-20T18:24:45","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T18:24:45","slug":"firefighters-rescue-dog-from-cave-in-hardin-co-woods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=14099","title":{"rendered":"Firefighters Rescue Dog from Cave in Hardin Co. Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watch the report HERE\u203a\u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

(WBBJ<\/a>) \u2013\u00a0HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn \u2014 A dog needed rescuing Friday after being trapped in a\u00a045-foot cave in the Hardin County woods.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0really didn\u2019t think he was coming out of that hole,\u201d Buddy\u2019s owner, Caleb Hudgens said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t gonna let him starve to death down there. I really couldn\u2019t think of what to do.<\/p>\n

Hudgens said the pair went hunting Thursday\u00a0night on his cousin\u2019s land, when the GPS\u00a0system attached to the dog\u2019s collar stopped working.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went about 200 yards in trees and started working the track again, and my tracking system lost signal,\u201d Hudgens explained. \u201cI went over to the last place it picked up, and there was about a 30-foot drop- off he was in the bottom of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rescue officials said it was much deeper and dangerous than they expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t a man-made well. It was a cave,\u201d Director of Animal Services for Hardin County, Debbie Nowicki\u00a0said. \u201cIt did not have supported sides. It had ledges and ruts in the walls that could have given way at any time so it was an unknown going in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rescuers did have to put a muzzle on the four year old to keep both the fireman and Buddy safe, but they said this is something they\u2019ve trained to be able to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do train for it, and its not something we do everyday of course, but we do train for it and we are prepared to do rope rescues like this,\u201d Hardin County Fire Chief, Melvin Martin explained.<\/p>\n

Rescue officials said they recommend marking any known openings like these on properties to keep accidents like these from happening<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"