Firefighters rescue Jack Russell dog stuck in cave at Bowentown Beach, near Waihī Beach

Mayor View volunteer firefighters were called to an animal rescue at Bowentown Beach on Tuesday night.

While wolves may howl at a full moon, Jack Russells prefer to run into caves – or at least one little dog did in Bowentown this week.

The Mayor View Volunteer Fire Brigade was called to an animal rescue at Bowentown Beach Holiday Park at 10.20pm on Tuesday.

Chief fire officer Paul Tucker said a member of the public directed them from the park toward the beach, where the dog’s owner met them.

The Jack Russell had disappeared into one of the caves along the beachfront.

“We investigated all around the cave and tried all the nooks and crannies, but had no success,” Tucker said.

The dog was trapped in a very small part of the cave.

Tucker described the cave as narrow and “too small for people, but small enough for animals”.

He said the Mayor View Fire Brigade had dealt with a few animal rescues over the years.

In this instance, he believed the Jack Russell likely sensed a rabbit or rat and chased after it.

The rescue took about an hour and a half.

Tucker said they were close to calling it quits, despite hating being unable to “achieve the task we set out to help members of the public with”.

But one of the five firefighters at the scene managed to entice the dog out and complete the rescue.

“He just called the dog’s name, and the dog eventually came out.”

Tucker said they saw movement, reached down a bit further, and grabbed the dog.

The rescue wrapped up just after midnight, and the crew of 12 – including eight firefighters waiting on standby at the holiday park – watched Tuesday’s lunar eclipse unfold.

Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.