While sipping our morning coffee, most of us don’t expect to do something as big as helping an animal stuck on a cliff.
The old man did so. As I was drinking my morning coffee, I noticed something strange moving on the edge of the cliff. After taking a closer look, he realized it was a small dog that needed help. She quickly contacted the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR) in Colorado, alerted them to the situation and asked them to rescue the poor pup.
Help is coming soon
beautiful river and rocks
When Officers Barker and Johnson arrived on the scene, the dog was so far away that they needed binoculars.
“He [the elderly man] was funny because I couldn’t see her without my binoculars, and he said he knew the ‘dot’ was an animal because he’s never seen that dot there before,” said Officer Barker.
With the help of the binoculars, they were able to see the dog who was stuck on a small ledge, hovering over a 50-yard drop down into the creek.
Rescue Mission
Not knowing how long the dog was up there, they decided to act immediately. Luckily, a man living nearby had a mountaineering harness and rappelling rope, which came in very handy.
Officer Barker carefully hooked herself up to a sturdy wooden fencepost and slowly made her way down to the dog.
As soon as the dog saw her rescuer, she immediately started wagging her tail and crawling towards Officer Barker. Unfortunately, as she crawled, the dirt started slipping from underneath her and she was unable to get very far.
The dirt kept sliding out from under her, but she kept trying. When I was down on the cliffside with her, she tried crawling towards me again. When I finally got to her, she kept licking my hands and face.
Officer Johnson then lowered down a catchpole, allowing Officer Barker to carefully put it around the neck and shoulders of the dog.
Because of this, Officer Barker made sure that even if the ground slipped completely, the dog would still be safe.
As soon as the dog was in Officer Barker’s hands, Johnson let down another rope, which was secured to the dog’s makeshift harness for extra safety.
Once it was secure, Officer Johnson slowly pulled up both Officer Barker and the dog back to safer terrain.
Found Dog
They decided to take the dog back to the shelter right away. After some checkups, they found a tag, along with a microchip. Thanks to that, they were able to find out not only her name, Jessie Lee, but also her owner’s contact.
The HSPPR immediately contacted the owners, sharing the great news.
While talking to her family, they found out that Jessie Lee had been missing for two weeks prior and that the cliff was located only a few blocks away from her home.
The family was overjoyed that their beloved dog was finally found. Making their way over to the Colorado rescue first thing in the morning to pick up Jessie Lee, the family was complete yet again.
Final Word
Let this story serve as a reminder that it is always a good idea to get your dog microchipped.
Even though Jessie Lee had a tag on, the rescuers would have had to go through so much trouble in order to locate her family.
This way, it only took them a second!
