Dog reunited with owners after falling 150ft into remote Cornish cove
Woody was trapped for three days
A dog has been reunited with his owners after spending three days trapped in a remote cove in north Cornwall.
Woody the Sprocker Spaniel disappeared while on a walk with his owners on a coast path near Dannonchapel.
It is understood that he fell 150ft down a cliff.
Woody’s desperate owners spent more than 24 hours searching for their beloved pet but he was eventually located another two days later when a walker heard him barking.
A local farmer used a drone to find him inside a steep-sided cove and raised the alarm.
The volunteer crew from Port Isaac RNLI had to navigate their D class inshore lifeboat through a large swell to reach the cove and Woody.
Crew member Ben Spicer said: "Woody gave us a good run around to start off with as he was understandably distressed, cold, tired and hungry.
"It felt fantastic to get Woody out of there and back to his owners. I can only imagine how horrid it must have felt not knowing his circumstances over those days."
Woody was returned to Port Isaac to be checked over by dog first aider Jenny Pickles from Cornwall Search Dogs.
Jenny then took Woody to be reunited with his owners in Wadebridge on Monday 11th April.
Woody's owner Jon said: "It was absolutely horrendous. We were devastated because he’s only nine months old and we had no idea if we were ever going to see him again.
"We felt sick to the stomach going back without Woody. Then we had a phone call telling us that a dog had been heard barking down a cliff.
"Words can’t express how delighted and overjoyed we were.
"When we first saw him, he was so shellshocked we had to sit calmly with him on the tailgate and just stroke him.
"The whole thing is a miracle: it’s amazing that he survived the fall, the couple of nights alone and that he was rescued. How on earth?
"We can’t thank the RNLI crew enough. We’ve always donated to the RNLI. I’ve been a Shoreline member for years and when my wife’s father died, we donated as well, never knowing that we would need them to rescue our dog."
Praising the multi-agency effort in rescuing Woody, volunteer Ben added: "It was a great team effort with multiple organisations involved, Cornwall Search Dogs, DogLost Cornwall, Boscastle Coastguard and the RNLI all working harmoniously and achieving a positive outcome. It could have very easily gone the other way for Woody."
When visiting the coast with your dog the RNLI’s key safety advice is:
• Keep dogs on a lead if you’re close to cliff edges or fast flowing rivers.
• If your dog goes into the water or gets stuck in mud, don't go after them. Move to a place your dog can reach safely and call them.
• If you're worried about your dog, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard
With demand for its lifesaving services at a high, the RNLI is putting out its own ‘Mayday’ call, urging the public to take part in the Mayday Mile.
Whether you choose to walk, jog, hop or skip, the Mayday Mile challenges you to cover at least one mile in any way you like between Saturday 1st and Tuesday 31st May, whilst raising vital funds for RNLI lifesavers so that they can continue to keep people safe at sea.