Hero gamekeepers dig through six feet of moorland to rescue lost spaniel

The dog’s owner, Karen da Rosa, was working her spaniel Jazz at a grouse shoot on Invermark Estate when Jazz disappeared without trace.

After two prolonged searches of the vast area, head gamekeeper Garry MacLennan heard breathing at an opening and discovered Jazz had entered a pipe hole on the moor. Without further ado, keeper Jonny Stevenson (one of the youngest and thinnest gamekeepers) launched head first into the hole, discovered the dog and returned her to a relieved owner.

Karen da Rosa said: “I couldn’t thank the Invermark heroes enough for saving Jazz and everyone on the shoot took the time to search. What an awesome team. She actually came out toastie warm and happy as punch. Surprisingly. I thought she’d be freezing and in shock. One lucky little dog and owner!”

Johnny Stevenson said: “It’s never a nice feeling when a dog goes missing. Karen had resigned herself to her dog being lost due to the length of time she was missing, so once she was located it was a massive relief to everyone. Our head keeper stopped the shoot to look for her and managed to located her down a pipe hole (which is an under ground peat chamber that lets the water run) by listening for her breathing. After digging about six feet of wet peat we broke through and pulled the dog out. It was very happy to see us.”