from Canada Live News
They were cold, wet, hungry and confused, but after four days stranded atop a Fraser Valley cliff, a pair of puppies are safe and sound.
Mission Search and Rescue was called to a rural area on Stave Lake Road in Mission to conduct the unusual operation on Sunday.
Rescuing animals is outside of the team’s mandate, but organizers decided to deploy when they became concerned a group of locals planned to head out into difficult terrain to locate the pups.
“It’s always a concern for us, as search and rescue,” said Mission SAR search manager Dean Osen. “We want to make sure that the public is safe.”
“That’s why we wanted to make sure the public knew we were coming out to help, and we did put it out to social media last night that we were going to help, no one go out, please be safe, we are trying to do our best.
Its day four that Ive been listening to them whining and crying. Theyre obviously in distress, said Emma Wilfert, who lives nearby. Theyre howling and crying all day until dusk.
Neighbour Emma Wilfert said she had heard the dogs howling from up on the steep embankment for days, adding that it’s not difficult to get trapped in the area.
The cliff face below was less daunting – and rescuers scrambled up near the ledge. The dogs rolled into their outstretched jackets, and they were carried, wrapped in the warm gear, back to the base.
“People or dogs go up into that area go into the bush because it doesn’t seem too rough, and then all of a sudden before they know it they are on this side of the mountain on a very steep cliff and they can’t get out,” she said.
About 15 volunteers were involved in the rescue, and were carrying specialized dog harnesses for a rope rescue, if necessary.
After the unusual rescue mission, the two 16-week old female puppies were skinny and cold but otherwise in good shape – and wolfed down the dog food brought to them by rescue crews.
She and her dad trekked out into the thick forest to try and figure out where the dogs were, and pinpointed them near the top of a high cliff that she knew she couldnt climb.
The ownership of the two Saint Bernard cross puppies is unclear, but a veterinarian said their nails had been recently clipped.
“We’ve had some close calls where the dogs normally do come back after time, where we have gone out and rescued the dogs’ owners, and the dogs run off, but usually after 12 to 24 hours the dogs come back themselves.”
Four days after they were first heard whimpering on a ledge halfway up a cliff, two St. Bernard Cross puppies were carried to safety by Mission Search and Rescue (SAR).
As it turned out, the special gear wasn’t needed. When rescuers reached the top of the cliff, they held out their jackets and the puppies jumped right in, the SAR team said.
It remains unclear who the dogs belong to, however a veterinarian that examined them said their nails had been recently trimmed.
Osen said the team is still working out where to take the dogs for care until their ownership can be determined or until homes can be found for them.
“We’ve looked on a lot of the missing pets pages and nobody seems to have reported them,” added Wilfert.
Taking a look at the nails, they look like theyve been trimmed recently. Someone was taking some degree of care of them, he said.
“We have one neighbour down here who said a lady came looking, said she had lost two of her dogs, but we don’t know who that lady is, she didn’t leave a phone number.”
They were cold, wet, hungry and confused, but after four days stranded atop a Fraser Valley cliff, a pair of puppies are safe and sound.
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| Puppies rescued from cliff – BC News |
Rescuing animals is outside of the team’s mandate, but organizers decided to deploy when they became concerned a group of locals planned to head out into difficult terrain to locate the pups.
Wilfert, who had feared the worst for the animals, started to cry. Thank you so much for getting them, she said as she petted the dogs and scratched them behind their ears. I thought they would just get weak and die up there.
“It’s always a concern for us, as search and rescue,” said Mission SAR search manager Dean Osen. “We want to make sure that the public is safe.”
"They were on a cliff. We had to calm them down, make sure they didnt fall off or jump off. They got so excited. We held out a couple jackets, they rolled into those jackets, and they came right out to us."
“That’s why we wanted to make sure the public knew we were coming out to help, and we did put it out to social media last night that we were going to help, no one go out, please be safe, we are trying to do our best.
Its day four that Ive been listening to them whining and crying. Theyre obviously in distress, said Emma Wilfert, who lives nearby. Theyre howling and crying all day until dusk.
Neighbour Emma Wilfert said she had heard the dogs howling from up on the steep embankment for days, adding that it’s not difficult to get trapped in the area.
The cliff face below was less daunting – and rescuers scrambled up near the ledge. The dogs rolled into their outstretched jackets, and they were carried, wrapped in the warm gear, back to the base.
“People or dogs go up into that area go into the bush because it doesn’t seem too rough, and then all of a sudden before they know it they are on this side of the mountain on a very steep cliff and they can’t get out,” she said.
After a few days, its possible that the animals could be up for adoption, he said, adding it would be great if the animals could be raised in the same home, given all that theyve(sic) been through.
About 15 volunteers were involved in the rescue, and were carrying specialized dog harnesses for a rope rescue, if necessary.
Veterinarian Adrian Walton checked their temperature, gums and fur. He found the dogs werent hypothermic and didnt seem to have any injuries or parasites from their time in the wilderness.
After the unusual rescue mission, the two 16-week old female puppies were skinny and cold but otherwise in good shape – and wolfed down the dog food brought to them by rescue crews.
She and her dad trekked out into the thick forest to try and figure out where the dogs were, and pinpointed them near the top of a high cliff that she knew she couldnt climb.
The ownership of the two Saint Bernard cross puppies is unclear, but a veterinarian said their nails had been recently clipped.
“We’ve had some close calls where the dogs normally do come back after time, where we have gone out and rescued the dogs’ owners, and the dogs run off, but usually after 12 to 24 hours the dogs come back themselves.”
Four days after they were first heard whimpering on a ledge halfway up a cliff, two St. Bernard Cross puppies were carried to safety by Mission Search and Rescue (SAR).
As it turned out, the special gear wasn’t needed. When rescuers reached the top of the cliff, they held out their jackets and the puppies jumped right in, the SAR team said.
It remains unclear who the dogs belong to, however a veterinarian that examined them said their nails had been recently trimmed.
Osen said the team is still working out where to take the dogs for care until their ownership can be determined or until homes can be found for them.
Hopefully the dogs are going to be more friendly. Hopefully they just want human social interaction than being aggressive and hungry, he said.
“We’ve looked on a lot of the missing pets pages and nobody seems to have reported them,” added Wilfert.
Taking a look at the nails, they look like theyve been trimmed recently. Someone was taking some degree of care of them, he said.
“We have one neighbour down here who said a lady came looking, said she had lost two of her dogs, but we don’t know who that lady is, she didn’t leave a phone number.”
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