Here is the article written about Cosmo's death.  It is from the Bismarck Tribune and appeared in the October 9th edition.

Drill hole swallows Beulah hunting dog

LAUREN DONOVAN, Bismarck Tribune

BEULAH -- Despite efforts by eight men on the Hazen Rescue Squad, a hunting dog drowned at the bottom of a drill hole north of Beulah while its owners watched helplessly from above.

Now, Seth Dewey and Dawn Greenwood of Beulah want to know who drilled the 12- to 18-inch diameter hole and why it wasn't filled in.

The drill hole is near Beulah north of Highway 200 on land managed as wildlife habitat by the state Game and Fish Department.

Dewey said he called Cosmos, a 70-pound German short hair, in from grouse hunting about 5:45 p.m. Friday and then watched it disappear.

"He ended up going feet first down that damned hole," Dewey said. He and others said the hole is 35 to 40 feet deep. "A 13-year-old (kid) could easily go down there," he said.

The Public Service Commission has been test drilling and filling in a series of underground mine shaft in and around the area. Bill Dodd, engineer for the PSC's Abandoned Mine Lands program, said he planned to investigate the drill hole today.

Dodd said PSC's test holes, unless they date years back, are less than five inches in diameter.

"I don't know what it is until we take a look," he said.

He said there are several danger signs in the vicinity warning people of the underground mines.

Hazen Fire Chief Tom Beery said the rescue workers tried hooking the dog's collar using ropes and pipes.

One attempt to hook on was successful, but the dog was wedged under a wider opening at the bottom of the shaft and couldn't be pulled up.

"I'm glad it wasn't a person," Beery said. "A kid would have went to the bottom."

He said the rescue squad worked for more than two hours listening to the dog cry and whine. They quit when they could no longer see bubbles in the water at the bottom of the hole.

Hazen Rescue pulled a man and his dog out of a sinkhole in the same area a year ago, Beery said. But sinkholes -- cave-ins of the old underground mine works and tunnels -- are wider openings.

Dewey said he and family members walked the area again Saturday and found two more open drill holes, one even deeper.

He said he alerted the Mercer County Sheriff's Department, but the holes remained uncovered on Sunday.

Emergency manager Dick Sorenson said he and other county employees have alerted state officials to open drill holes in the area in recent years.

Sorenson said he's concerned about Friday's incident.

"Somebody needs to answer as to why those holes are left unfilled," he said.