A couple of pooches were scooped up by rescuers after finding themselves in a tight spot Monday afternoon.
Around 3:06 p.m., South Whidbey Fire/EMS responded to a Sills Road address, where two dogs had progressed 250 feet down a bluff, presumably in pursuit of a small animal.
“They probably went over chasing a rabbit or something, who knows,” Assistant Chief Terry Ney said.
The owners of the dogs — a pit bull and a Texas heeler — said the canines had never gone down the bluff before in all their years living there.
Though there was a small strip of beach at the bottom of the 300-foot bluff, it was disappearing as the tide came in, so rescuers worked quickly to reach the howling dogs. They fashioned a complex-looking system of colorful ropes and lowered two people down to grab the dogs, which were harnessed before being brought back up.
“Once they got to the top, they were pretty happy,” Ney reported.
He added that the fire district’s most common rope rescue involves saving dogs.
One of the grateful pooches rescued from a South Whidbey bluff. (Photo provided)
One of the grateful pooches rescued from a South Whidbey bluff. (Photo provided)
