An Angus pet owner spoke of her relief after fire service crews carried out a dramatic rescue to retrieve her dog from a 150ft cliff drop.
Helen Sander, 52, said she “can’t thank the fire service enough” after they managed to pull her 11-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier Diago to safety from the bottom of a ravine near her home at Meikle Kenny Farm House, Lintrathen.
The black dog with white paws and belly ran off from Helen while they were out for a walk with her neighbour and neighbour’s dog. The pets spotted a group of wild deer roaming the fields and raced off in their direction.
The neighbour’s collie returned when called but Diago failed to do so.
Helen said: “We were just out walking the dogs when suddenly three or four deer appeared out of nowhere. The two dogs got excited and just went running after them.
“My neighbour’s collie came back when we called but Diago didn’t. We then heard him barking and realised he had fallen over the embankment and down towards the water. The fire service said it was about a 150ft drop.”
The local gamekeeper alerted the emergency services to Wednesday afternoon’s incident and three fire engines and two specialist water rescue units, bringing a total of 20 officers, arrived promptly on the scene and used ropes to lower a firefighter down to the stranded animal.
The dog had landed on a ledge and had avoided the fast-flowing water below, which could have swept him away.
Upon his rescue Diago lathered his rescuer with thankful licks before finally making it back to the top of the cliff.
Helen added: “I was quite frightened when it all happened. I didn’t know if he was hurt but I could hear him barking so I was glad of that.
“The fire commander kept us informed of what was going on and the fireman who rescued Diago said he couldn’t bring him up straight away because he was being licked to death.
“I was just so relieved and we got him back on the leash straight away. Remarkably he had no injuries. He was really sweaty but so happy to be out of the ravine.”
Diago was back at the family home last night, curled up in the living room and enjoying a well-earned rest following his eventful day.
Helen said they won’t be going for walks to that field again and will go uphill in future.
“I’d like to thank my neighbour and the gamekeeper,” she said. “They used their cars and 4x4s to run the fire crews down to the scene with all their equipment because it was so hard to get to, and I think that shows great community spirit.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed: “Three appliances, two water rescue units and a total of approximately 20 officers attended the incident following a call at around 1.54pm.
“They used line rescue units to retrieve a dog that had fallen down an embankment around 100 feet deep. There were no injuries and all units left the scene by around 3.57pm.”
Photo by Photos on Location