West Bay: Coastguards risk their lives to save cliff fall dog (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

West Bay: Coastguards risk their lives to save cliff fall dog

9:58am Thursday 19th November 2009

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West Bay volunteer coastguards risked their lives in a two-day cliff top rescue to save a nine-year-old dog.

So dangerous was the rescue in severe gale force nine winds on slippery ground that West Bay section chief Rob Malpas had to get the mission sanctioned by coastguard bosses.

He said: “When we were surveying the situation at first it was a question of ‘do we go or don’t we’.

“We had a job to get our vehicles up there, that was quite a feat in itself.

“I called in our sector manager, the full-time coastguard Peter Pritchard to give the go-ahead.

“We don’t have to do anything for dogs.

“We are asked if we want to respond. We always do, but we are not obliged to, as we are for people.”

The call came at 4pm on Sunday after Jack, the Collie cross dog fell off the cliffs at Thorncombe Beacon. The 10-strong team made three attempts to locate the missing animal that night.

Mr Malpas said this was the longest dog rescue mission they had ever undertaken in the whole of his 35-year career.

He said: “I am very proud and impressed with all the team for what they did.

“We couldn’t find the dog because the cliff there is not straight down so you can’t look down and see where he was.

“We made about three attempts and managed to get down fairly close to the dog.

“We could see him and the cliff man said he could hear the dog making a noise, so that was encouraging to us but we were going to have to relocate our gear to get it on top of the dog.

“But it was my decision at the time not to go on because it was getting too dangerous for us.

“The owner was a bit upset but was very understanding.

“He spent the night in an hotel in West Bay and we told him we would come back at first light Monday.

“We all grouped up at 7am and started again.

“It was so windy but at least it was light, which makes such a difference because up there when it is dark, it is really dark.

“We have torches, good equipment and big lights but for the man down over the cliff with just a torch it is quite an experience.

“We located about three different areas again to go down over.

“One we went down and could see him but not get to him, another one we couldn’t see him.

“Then in the end, between where we’d been and where we thought he was, we actually located exactly where he was and went down and got him.

“It sounds easy but it took a long time and the winds were horrendous.

“Luckily he was a lovely, placid dog. He was very pleased to be rescued although a little disorientated when he came up.”

The marathon rescue also christened a new piece of equipment the team are trying out – a dog rescue bag.

Mr Malpas said: “It makes it safer because the rescuer has to manipulate himself and the dog up the cliff, which is not easy, but at least if the dog is in the bag he can’t wriggle about too much.

“If a big dog panicked half way up a cliff it could be nasty.

“You don’t want rescuers being bitten because the nicest dog in the world could panic and he’d spent the night on the cliff.

“The owner said the dog was chasing sheep so I had to give him a good talking to after the rescue.

“Where there are dogs and sheep the dog should always be on the lead, especially by the cliff.”

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