Our Incident Response teams are trained to respond to any situation; however, it was a rescue of the more unusual kind when a dog by the name of Darcey Bones recently made a 2am dash through Sydney's Lane Cove tunnel.
Darcey, a three-year-old Border Collie, snuck out through an unlocked gate at his dogsitter's West Ryde residence, to start the long journey back home to Northbridge. His adventure took him through the Lane Cove Tunnel, one of Sydney's busiest roads.
A black dog, in a black tunnel, at 2am in the morning. The way these fellas, even to spot him, they're doing a marvelous job," said Darcey's dog sitter.
Venturing through the tunnel, Darcy headed east-bound on the west bound tunnel, when our Incident Response crew spotted him on 24-hour surveillance cameras and immediately dispatched a crew to the rescue.
Thanks to their swift actions, our incident controllers closed the westbound lanes, blocked traffic from entering and intercepted Darcey.
Incident Controller Scott Ewers said his colleague, Chris Mirabito was the one to get Darcey on the leash and back to safety.
Chris used his dog whispering skills and the dog came to him.
Describing his first reaction to the dispatch call, Chris says that a quick response was the top priority. 'It's also about the safety of the public. We knew if a driver saw a dog in the tunnel, they would be confused and might panic."
The rescue was captured on Channel 9 News, watch the clip below.
Top image: Ventia Incident Controllers Scott Ewers and Chris Mirabito, with Darcey Bones, the Border Collie.
Pictured: Ventia Incident Controller Chris used his dog whispering skills to rescue Darcey.
Our award-winning incident response teams are on the job 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, keeping an eye out for emergency situations to help keep our roads safe. Whether it is a motor vehicle crash or a homesick puppy, our highly skilled teams are always ready to keep our cities moving with confidence.
Since 2018, Ventia has provided incident response and maintenance services for Transurban on the 3.6km Lane Cove Tunnel (LCT) and 21km M2 Motorway, which connect Sydney's lower north shore and northwest regions. Read more about the contract here.