TOOELE, Utah — On Sunday, a dog fell 30 feet into an abandoned mine shaft in Tooele County.
While the dog was saved, incidents like these do happen given the more than ten thousand mines that are scattered throughout the state, which is why authorities are urging caution.
"The dog was in perfect health. Once I got down to the dog, I felt around and felt his legs, made sure there was no tenderness, no broken bones, no bleeding before I started handling him too much,” said Crystal Sides, a member of the Tooele County Search and Rescue.
Search and Rescue said the dog and his owner were up in the mountains near Tooele hunting when they got close to the opening of the mine and the dog darted inside.
They said incidents like these have happened in the area.
"There's a lot of open mine shafts out in Fivemile Pass where there's a lot of recreational use of UTVs and OHVs," said Jeremy Evans with the Tooele County Search and Rescue Team. "Sometimes they just end up driving right into an open pit and they get stuck on the bottom."
Because of how many mine shafts there are in Tooele County, Search and Rescue made a map to track the mines they're aware of. It's estimated there are more than ten thousand open mine shafts in the entire state.
"We estimate there are about 17,000 abandoned mine openings, or hazardous mine openings. That doesn't include prospects or pits or things like that aren't necessarily hazardous,” said Steve Fluke, the director of the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program in the Department of Natural Resources.
While the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program has closed roughly 7000 mine openings, there are many openings that haven't been found. Tooele County is estimated to have a higher concentration of mine openings.
"Tooele County is home to quite a few mining districts, and the Tintic Mining District is one of the largest in the state, and the Gold Hill Mining District is also in Tooele County and there are others as well," Fluke said.
The reason why many mine openings haven't been found is that there aren't many surviving records of mining operations and the mines themselves are hard to see.
Authorities recommend keeping your head on a swivel.
"There's a lot of open-pit mines that you don't realize that they're there until you're up on them, and there's loose gravel and loose rock all around them," Sides said. "Just be aware of your surroundings and be careful."
Experts say you can also check a USGS topographical map before you go on a hike because many reported mines are marked.