A dog that fell 20 feet into a crack in the earth at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is safe at home today after search and rescue rangers rescued the pet Sunday.

The National Parks Service reported that the owner walked her two dogs without a leash Saturday evening near the Volcano Golf and Country Club and the park boundary when the dogs ran off. 

One dog returned, but Romeo, a 4 1/2-year-old chocolate brown labrador retriever, did not return.

The owner searched into the night, but couldn’t find Romeo.

On Sunday morning, she called for help after hearing a faint whining from deep within an earth crack. 

Park rangers determined that the dog could safely be rescued. 

Using ropes, ranger Arnold Nagata was lowered 20 feet into the narrow crack, where he found Romeo in good condition. After rigging Romeo with a harness, the rescue team slowly pulled both Nagata and Romeo out of the ground.

“We are glad that this rescue had a happy ending, because our pets are like family," Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said. "The best way to protect them is not expose them unnecessarily to potentially hazardous areas that are prevalent in a national park.”

In the news release, the parks service noted that dogs and other pets are not allowed in many areas of the national park for safety reasons, and for the protection of threatened and endangered species and that all pets and authorized service dogs must be leashed.

According to the National Park services, hikers have reported being bitten by dogs off leash on park trails, and other pets have fallen into earth cracks and steam vents and have not survived.