A loved family pet has been pulled from a 7m-deep abandoned Waihi mine shaft by a team of rescuers.
Seven-year-old fox terrier Roxy was discovered inside the abandoned Waihi mine shaft this morningafter going missing yesterday.
The shaft is within a fully fenced-off area at the back of Tania Maitlin's property at the end of Boyd Rd.
Maitlin was mowing her lawn on Monday evening before Roxy disappeared.
"She was sitting on my lap when mowing and she spied a set of possum eyes. She took off after it and ran off into the fenced off area."
Maitlin called Roxy but thought she would be back later.
"I put her biscuits outside and her bowl next to her bed but when I got up the next day at 5am, I opened the curtain, and the biscuits were still there," she said.
Before raising the alarm, Maitlin sent Roxy's best mate, a black labrador named Molly, to search for the fox terrier.
"Molly directed me straight toward the shaft by the fence; she sat there whimpering and barking . . . Letting me know this was where she was."
The old mine shaft area is about 15m from Maitlin's house, fully fenced off with barbed wire on the top, but Roxy was small enough to get through.
The Oceana Gold Mines Rescue Team was called to help save Roxy.
"Within 20 minutes they were on our property. They were amazing and quick. It took them three-and-a-half hours to get Roxy out of the hole," Maitlin said.
After getting some geotech advice to assess the safety of the shaft, the team got the green light to abseil down.
"It was amazing to watch them, they checked first the level of gas into the hole, then drop a heat sensor down to see if Roxy was alive. When they found she was they bought a camera down the hole to check if it was her," Maitlin said.
Rescue team captain Jed Moriarty brought Roxy back.
"He was amazing! Thank you for saving my dog," Maitlin said.
Roxy is now reunited with her family and suffered minor injuries from her fall.
"She came back with a few bruises on her leg and some bad cuts on her ear and other lesions," Maitlin said.
"Other than that she is fine but was in a lot of shock."
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