A CURIOUS dog had to be rescued by firefighters after getting stuck beneath a pigeon coop. Honey, a black Labrador, was trapped for nearly 10 hours on Thursday, February 11 after squeezing underneath the coop in her back garden in Park Lane, Stonely. He

A CURIOUS dog had to be rescued by firefighters after getting stuck beneath a pigeon coop.

Honey, a black Labrador, was trapped for nearly 10 hours on Thursday, February 11 after squeezing underneath the coop in her back garden in Park Lane, Stonely.

Her owner Louise Halsall, who is a retained firefighter in Kimbolton, returned home from a drill night at 10.30pm unable to find her beloved pet.

She told The Hunts Post: "I searched the garden and the house but there was no trace of Honey. When I found her under the coop I realised she was stuck and tried coaxing her out with food and even digging her out but nothing worked."

After an hour and a half of unsuccessfully trying to free her, she called the fire service and six of her colleagues from Kimbolton Fire Station arrived to help.

However, they too struggled to dig out seven-year-old Honey and had to resort to moving the pigeons to safety before cutting a hole in the floor of the coop.

Honey's adventure ended - and she regained her freedom - at 1.20am.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said Honey was uninjured but had caused the pigeons some distress with all her barking.

Mrs Halsall, 40, who also works as a dinner lady at Kimbolton School, said: "It was a tiring and embarrassing night. Honey had worn down her clawers where she was trying to scratch her way out but she is absolutely fine.

"She is quite a big dog and she just got stuck. She could have been under there since 3pm because I did not see her when I popped home in the afternoon.

"I have never seen her go under the coop before so I imagine she must have seen something - perhaps the neighbour's cat - that convinced her to go under there.

"I'll be putting down railway sleepers to stop her getting under there again.