by Jenni Horn

A brave pet owner abseiled into an old quarry to rescue his puppy who was stranded, trembling and petrified, on a tiny ledge.

Betsy the playful pug tumbled into the quarry after she escaped from her family’s home in Sycamore Road, Strood.

Owners Dave and Melissa Fairman, along with their children and friends, spent four hours desperately searching for her last Sunday morning.

After almost giving up hope, Dave heard three-month-old Betsy crying about 30ft below him in the former quarry, which is on the site of the Medway Gate housing development.

Dave, 51, said: "I could hear her but I couldn’t see her so I didn’t know how far down she was."

The family were told it could take some time before firefighters from Kent Fire and Rescue would be able to help, as they would have to send an inspector to the scene, so Dave decided to take immediate action.

He strapped himself to a harness and got his sons, Craig, 17, and Reece, 15, with help from builder Neil Bridgland, who had been working in the Fairman’s garden, to lower him down.

Dave said: "To be honest I felt so guilty because I had moved a fence panel in the garden so it was my fault she had got out, I felt I had to do it. We didn’t know what condition she was in and we wanted to get to her as quickly as possible."

"The scariest part was going over the edge because there was a lip at the top I couldn’t see where I was going and I didn’t know how far down she was. It was like going into the unknown."

With just a few feet of rope to spare, Dave found little Betsy trembling on a tiny ledge just 8in wide.

Dave added: "If she had moved she would have fallen even further and she would have been a goner. She was petrified."

The astonishing rescue continues as Betsy was hoisted to the top in a bucket tied to another piece of rope and then the rescue team managed to slowly pull Dave back up.

Betsy quickly recovered from her ordeal and by the time Dave and Melissa rushed her to a vet to be checked over, she was full of beans.

Dave said: "She was bouncing all over the place. The vet was amazed she didn’t have any broken bones."