Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University's reputation for cave exploration and public service helped to save a dog lost in a cave near Scottsville.

Earlier this month, WKU's Department of Geography and Geology received a phone call about the lost dog and student members of the Green River Grotto club immediately made preparations for a search and rescue attempt.

After determining the cave's location, information from the Central Kentucky Cave Survey database helped the students formulate a rescue plan. Over the past two years, Dr. John All and several geoscience students have been working on expanding the Cave Survey database.

Although the cave was known, the database provided a description of its location, but nothing about the complexity of the cave passages. However, based on an understanding of the geology and geomorphology of caves in the area, the group was able to discern that the cave was most likely a small stream conduit.

Undergraduate geology student Heather Veerkamp of Plumas, Calif., and graduate geoscience students Ben Tobin of Hartford, Conn., and Brian Sakofsky of Fairport, N.Y., met the dog's owner in Scottsville and proceeded to the cave.

The cave entrance was about 15 feet wide and located on the side of a hill. After entering the cave, the students crawled through the passage until they were able to locate the lost dog several hundred feet inside.

The dog had crawled in a small side passage to get out of the water, and was found stuck in a hole in the ceiling. They were able to get the dog down out of the hole and back to the main passage.

Sam, a coonhound, was suffering from dehydration, hypothermia and hunger but was otherwise uninjured. He was taken back through the stream passage to the entrance, where he was reunited with his owner.

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For more information, contact David Keeling at (270) 745-4555.