Forget about cats stuck in trees - today the New Zealand Fire Service was called on to rescue a dog from a drain.
The owner had been taking his two dogs for a walk along the beach this morning at Waitahanui, near Taupo.
The two dogs began chasing a rabbit which ran down a storm drain. The smaller of the two dogs made it through the pipe but Honey the fox terrier got trapped 2-2.5m down and couldn't move.
Owner Sam Donaldson knew just who to call - the Fire Service.
"All that we could see were these beautiful eyes looking back at us," firefighter Henry Reihana said.
"She was actually stuck behind sand and debris in the drain itself," he told Checkpoint.
"In the end we used rakes and hoes and shovels, anything we could.
"We fashioned a small shovel that we've got on the appliance into like a hoe, and we taped it to the end of a stick, then we taped it to a couple of other miscellaneous sticks that we carry on the truck, and so we kept taping it together, extending it and taping it all together so with a little bit of Kiwi ingenuity, dare I say it."
About 90 minutes later Honey was free following what Mr Reihana called a team effort.
Mr Donaldson was calm throughout, and Honey extremely grateful once she was free, Mr Reihana said.
"None the worse for wear as far as we could see. You could tell she was very grateful to be rescued."
