SCHOOLTEACHER GEOFF HALEY, 50
His dog trapped in a drain, a loyal owner digs him out

Their daily walks near home in Medomsley, England, were a relaxing ritual for schoolteacher Geoff Haley and his mixed-breed Lakeland-Border terriers Billy and Ben. But on the afternoon of May 3, Ben suddenly darted into the woods. "I thought he might be chasing a rabbit," says Haley. But when Ben didn't return after several hours, adds Haley, "I knew he had met with some kind of trouble."

Haley's best guess was that Ben had disappeared into a long-disused 18-in. drainpipe that had so fascinated the dog that Haley had blocked it repeatedly with .wire fencing. But sure enough, the fencing was gone. Investigating, Haley discovered the pipe had recently been connected to the drainage lines of a new subdivision. When he and a friend, John Bell, began lifting manhole covers from a newly built road directly over the pipe, their worst fears were confirmed. "I listened at the drain," recalls Bell, 61, "and I could hear Ben yapping."

Firemen tried to dislodge the dog with a high-powered stream of water, but that didn't work. Finally, Haley, along with wife Bobbie, 50, daughter Helen, 24, and a group of volunteers, took matters into their own hands. "I couldn't wait," says Haley. "I didn't know how much air Ben had, and any rain would have drowned him." Throughout the night they dug up more than a foot of tarmac and concrete, then broke through the pipe itself. Friends lowered Haley headfirst into the pipe but he still couldn't free the dog—and the hole was caving in. It wasn't until 8 a.m. when a construction crew arrived for work that the hole was widened and Ben was freed. "He was stuck in goo like the cork in a wine bottle," recalls Haley. "It took a massive heave to get him out."

With no more damage than a dirty coat, Ben, after a brief turn in the family shower, was soon wagging his tail but offering no word on what had prompted his excursion. "He's a bit of a daft dog," says Haley affectionately. "What possessed him that day is a mystery."