A Golden Retriever has been found under a pile of rubble a full nine days after Italy was struck by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake.
Rescuers heard the dog, whose name is Romeo, barking away as they accompanied his owners to retrieve belongings from their quake-damaged home, the Associated Press reports.
Firefighters managed to free Romeo from the rubble of the temblor and he was totally nonplussed by the fuss, hanging out patiently as they checked him out, shaking his fur and running off down the garden.
The quake has claimed almost 300 lives, left hundreds injured and thousands without homes.
A handful of hero dogs have been helping with rescue efforts, with black labrador Leo locating an eight-year-old girl under the rubble in Pescara del Tronto and a German Shepherd named Sarotti helping rescuers find a 10-year-old girl in Amatrice.
Leo got to shake paws with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Matteo Renzi when they greeted rescue crews who saved people from damaged buildings.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Italian Premier Matteo Renzi pat Leo, the black Labrador retriever.
Image: APAP Photo/Luca Bruno
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
Read more: http://mashable.com/2016/09/02/dog-rubble-earthquake-italy/
