A three-year-old dog has been freed by a digger after spending a couple of nights trapped in a 5m-deep hole on the West Coast.
Jacko the Jack Russell got stuck on Thursday morning after he and his owner, Shane Sitruc, were possum hunting while in the White Cliffs area of Inangahua.
"We have our boy!" Mr Sitruc's partner Willow Leigh wrote on Facebook on Saturday morning.
"Thanks to everyone who has helped us and donated! He came out this morning somehow.
"No injuries, covered in dirt, having a nice feed now. Just very hungry and thirsty boy who will be staying at home from now on, thanks everyone so much," she said.
Ms Leigh says Jacko was chasing a possum when he lost his footing.
"He didn't realise it was a straight drop-off until it was too late. He just couldn't stop."
They tried using shovels and calling him out but soon realised the worst - Jacko looked to be stuck about 5m below ground.
"As soon as we shone a torch down we saw there was no way he'd be able to walk out on his own. It was just too steep."
Ms Leigh says a lot of new cracks have opened up in the area since the Kaikoura earthquake, and she believes this is one of them.
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