Dog gets stuck in hole for five hours

Yorkie the adventurous pooch

By Paul Thornton
A CURIOUS canine sparked an eight-hour rescue mission after chasing a rabbit down a warren.

Yorkie, a Jack Russell cross, had to be dug out of the rabbit-hole by fire fighters after he became lodged in narrow passages.

The tiny tunnel was too small for the terrier to turn and he became wedged 14-foot along and could not free himself.

Despite desperate efforts to free him his worried owner had to call on local emergency workers after her beloved dog could not escape.

The five-year-old pooch was eventually hoisted to safety and despite a little dehydration and stiffness was none the worse for wear.

The rescue unfolded in fields at Atton, in the Scottish Borders.

Owner Lynn Lauder said she had been tending to a horse she kept at stables at Bleechfields while Yorkie and sister Whitey played together.

The 40-year-old activities officer became worried when she called on the mutts and only Whitey returned – covered in distinctive dirt.

The clue led Lynn to a nearby rabbit warren and, after checking several holes, finally heard the faint bark of the longhaired cross of a Jack Russell and a Patterdale terrier.

Her beloved pet had strayed into the side of a warren and delved so far in he could not turn round.

Lynn was unable to free him despite five hours of digging and, with the light fading, called the local fire watch at Eyemouth.

She said: “Yorkie had obviously got sight of a rabbit and chased it into the hole.

“But he is a chunky wee man and got himself stuck in the narrow tunnel and couldn’t get himself turned round.

“We dug in a bit but couldn’t get to him and as the light started to fail we became a bit worried we weren’t going to get him out – it was all getting a bit frantic.”

A fire crew rushed in to the scene to help and were at first concerned for Yorkie’s welfare.

Officer in charge, Gale Coates, said: “He was quite still and I was quite worried at first.”

But one officer devised a make-shift harness to pull him free at around 7.20pm, almost eight hours after he went missing.

Gale added: “We dug in from the bottom and reached in with a pole with a rope looped at the top.

“We managed to get it under his arms and pull him gently back out.

“When he came out, you would not know that he had been there for eight hours, he seemed none the worse for wear.

“He looked ready to charge after the next rabbit that came along.”

Lynn said after a bath and some dinner Yorkie was back to his old self.

She said: “He was a bit hungry and dehydrated but by the next morning he was fine. I don’t think he saw that he was in any danger, he was just happy to see everyone.

“It’s a big thanks to the fire brigade, if it hadn’t been for their quick thinking I don’t know what would have happened.

“I have had Yorkie since he was born and I would be absolutely devastated to lose him.”

Cursed park hits family for the second time

Little John McAlpine broke his foot in a freak accident.

By Cara Sulieman
A FIVE-year-old boy has been injured in a freak accident just metres from where his brother was hurt five years ago – making the family feel cursed.

John McAlpine was playing with his brother Jack, 7, and friend when a gust of wind blew over a six foot high monument.

John was trapped when the sculpture fell on his foot in the park near his home in Haddington, East Lothian.

He was eventually freed by his cousin – 17-year-old Jason DeMarco – before being rushed to the Sick Kids hospital in Edinburgh.

After staying over night to let the swelling go down, John’s fractured toes and broken metatarsal bone were put into a cast.

Now the five-year-old has been forced to stay home from the nursery he loves while his foot heals.

The massive stainless steel arch has been next to the play park for four years.

Now the tot’s father, also John, is planning to sue East Lothian council over the accident.

He said: “The children’s park in Lammermuir Crescent is not what I would call child-friendly. In fact it has been a curse on this family.

“The council have been unhelpful since we reported the accident. When I called the emergency number on Friday night the woman told me it wasn’t an emergency.

“But my son had to go to hospital and the metal object was still lying on the ground. It’s a play park and kids are running about there all the time.

“To me, that’s an emergency.”

And it’s not the first time the family have had an emergency situation after an incident in the park.

John’s older brother Jamie, now 17, had his fingertips chopped off by a swing gate in the park in 2004 when he was just 12 years old.

The family won £2,200 in damages from the council at the time.

But John is outraged that the area is still a danger zone despite many accidents over the years.

He said: “The whole thing is dangerous. They sometimes take away bits and pieces of play equipment because a kid has had an accident. But they often leave metal struts sticking out of the ground.

“It’s all just quick fixes and never made properly safe.”

And John believes part of the reason the sculpture fell over was that it was never properly maintained.

He said: “Older kids who hang about the park, swing off of it and slide down it and it weakened the structure. The wee wall around it is always falling apart as well.

“How can it be safe when they have got no vandalism prevention in place. No wonder it fell over.”

East Lothian Council removed the metal sculpture on Monday and yesterday were covering up the holes left behind by the damage.

But it’s too little, too late for the McAlpine family who are again suffering because of the dangerous playpark.

John said: “We are taking legal advice but no matter what money we get it’s not going to make up for John’s pain. The council needs to do something before another child gets hurt.”

Ronnie Wood’s art to be shown

Ronnie Wood's self portrait

By Cara Sulieman
ROLLING Stone Ronnie Wood is hoping to prove he has more to him than sex, drugs and rock n’ roll when he unveils his art exhibition in Scotland.

The 61-year-old wrinkly rocker’s work is a mixture of celebrity portraits and animal scenes; showing he doesn’t just paint it black.

But Wood himself is unlikely to visit the capital during the show as he is thought to have escaped to LA with his 20-year-old Russian lover Ekaterina Ivanova.

So the public will be left to decide if the guitarist’s art gives them any satisfaction when it is unveiled at The Dome in Edinburgh later this month.

The exhibition’s curator Jonathan Poole reckons Wood is becoming better known for his art than his outlandish behaviour.

He said: “I don’t think people are interested in his domestic life, they’re interested in him as an original artist. The works most certainly stand up on their own merit.

“He sold an original called Beggars’ Banquet for £1.2 million – no-one would pay £1.2m just because he’s a rock star. He’s a good investment and he’s a good visual artist.”

Wood with Rod Stewart

It certainly helps that Wood has a barrage of famous friends willing to pose for portraits – adding an extra dash of appeal.

As well as famous faces such as Paul McCartney and Jack Nicholson, there are plenty of paintings of the Stones in action on stage.

Poole explained: “Obviously the majority are going to include the music world because that’s his world, but we’ve got a number of animal paintings as well. There’s one called Tusk that is of rhinos and elephants, for example.”

Poole has been involved with rock art for years and has in the past arranged exhibitions of work by John Lennon and Miles Davis.

“With these exhibitions, it’s a very personal thing. Other people back him up on stage, but he’s on their own when he does this. I have the utmost respect for him as an artist.”

But offstage Wood is notorious for his extravagant and erratic behaviour, hitting headlines last year for leaving his wife for a girl 40 years younger than him.