A Blog worthy story
As usual, my poor blog is abandoned for a time...
But yesterday was the kind of day that warranted me taking the time to post about it.
I don't know about you, but I am an avid movie/tv show watcher, and I am not always proud to admit the amount of time I spend absorbed in the wonderful stories and heroic antics of other people's manufactured false lives.
But in the movies, things always go a certain way. For the most part anyway, the typical and cherished formula of A+B=C leads to many wonderful feelings, and sappy stories that warm our hearts.
What happens however, when in real life, something right out of a movie happens and you can barely breathe from the shock that something so awesome and terrifying at the same time could happen right under your nose? What happens when you reach out for help and there is no one willing to step up, rush in and save the day? Would you take it upon yourself to be the hero, or would you shamefully walk away and do nothing and deem it "not your problem".
Yesterday, we were presented with a situation just like that. My whole family is together right now, for the first time since Christmas, and we were enjoying a beautiful sunny spring day. We heard a dog barking behind my parents house, in fact, my mother had mentioned it the day before that she thought maybe there was a dog in trouble back there. The rest of us brushed it off that it was probably another new yappy dog in the neighborhood. As the barking continued, we decided that my mom and sister and I would take a walk behind the house just to check it out. There is a huge cliff-face behind my parents house so we don't go back often, but it is beautiful for walking. So, off we went and were about to turn around to come home after not hearing anything else, when my mother spotted the dogs. Two of them. Stuck. On a cliff. For two days. In the pouring rain.
The site of those dogs is not something I will forget in my life time. I am an animal lover, and so my heart absolutely broke knowing they were stuck and couldn't get down. This was not a small cliff, this was certainly not going to be an easy situation to fix. To give you an idea, here is a photo of the dogs on the cliff, I have highlighted them.
As far as we could tell, the second dog had followed the first when it got injured falling part way down the cliff, and couldn't reach the other dog. So, The next forty minutes consisted of calling all the various avenues (police, vet, animal control) NONE of which offered any kind of assistance. So, our options were, either turn a blind eye and let these dogs die, or attempt to save these poor dogs ourselves.
With the help of the owners of the property and another neighbour these ordinary people became extraordinary heroes. And thankfully, despite the many things stacked against us (no help, a shaky rockface, very basic equipment (ya, we had a rope), and two tired and very afraid dogs) we found our happy movie ending. My husband was the one who climbed up the cliff to save them, and though I was incredibley afraid for him (did I ever mention he fell off a 50 foot cliff when he was a kid) I was so very proud of him for his big heart and willingness to not accept that nothing could be done. It was not easy by any means, and could have ended much differently, but the teamwork of all involved brought the dogs safely to the ground. It was nothing short of a miracle.
I couldn't believe that these institutions that are supposed to be in place to make sure that we are safe and cared for all failed us yesterday. I understand that these were just dogs, but they still deserve the common courtesy of our love and care. If we cannot help the helpless what is the point? Without having seen it yourself, there is no way to know just how heartbreaking and hopeless this scene was, and though pictures will never do it justice. here is a storyboard I did up with pictures of the rescue.
But yesterday was the kind of day that warranted me taking the time to post about it.
I don't know about you, but I am an avid movie/tv show watcher, and I am not always proud to admit the amount of time I spend absorbed in the wonderful stories and heroic antics of other people's manufactured false lives.
But in the movies, things always go a certain way. For the most part anyway, the typical and cherished formula of A+B=C leads to many wonderful feelings, and sappy stories that warm our hearts.
What happens however, when in real life, something right out of a movie happens and you can barely breathe from the shock that something so awesome and terrifying at the same time could happen right under your nose? What happens when you reach out for help and there is no one willing to step up, rush in and save the day? Would you take it upon yourself to be the hero, or would you shamefully walk away and do nothing and deem it "not your problem".
Yesterday, we were presented with a situation just like that. My whole family is together right now, for the first time since Christmas, and we were enjoying a beautiful sunny spring day. We heard a dog barking behind my parents house, in fact, my mother had mentioned it the day before that she thought maybe there was a dog in trouble back there. The rest of us brushed it off that it was probably another new yappy dog in the neighborhood. As the barking continued, we decided that my mom and sister and I would take a walk behind the house just to check it out. There is a huge cliff-face behind my parents house so we don't go back often, but it is beautiful for walking. So, off we went and were about to turn around to come home after not hearing anything else, when my mother spotted the dogs. Two of them. Stuck. On a cliff. For two days. In the pouring rain.
The site of those dogs is not something I will forget in my life time. I am an animal lover, and so my heart absolutely broke knowing they were stuck and couldn't get down. This was not a small cliff, this was certainly not going to be an easy situation to fix. To give you an idea, here is a photo of the dogs on the cliff, I have highlighted them.
As far as we could tell, the second dog had followed the first when it got injured falling part way down the cliff, and couldn't reach the other dog. So, The next forty minutes consisted of calling all the various avenues (police, vet, animal control) NONE of which offered any kind of assistance. So, our options were, either turn a blind eye and let these dogs die, or attempt to save these poor dogs ourselves.
With the help of the owners of the property and another neighbour these ordinary people became extraordinary heroes. And thankfully, despite the many things stacked against us (no help, a shaky rockface, very basic equipment (ya, we had a rope), and two tired and very afraid dogs) we found our happy movie ending. My husband was the one who climbed up the cliff to save them, and though I was incredibley afraid for him (did I ever mention he fell off a 50 foot cliff when he was a kid) I was so very proud of him for his big heart and willingness to not accept that nothing could be done. It was not easy by any means, and could have ended much differently, but the teamwork of all involved brought the dogs safely to the ground. It was nothing short of a miracle.
I couldn't believe that these institutions that are supposed to be in place to make sure that we are safe and cared for all failed us yesterday. I understand that these were just dogs, but they still deserve the common courtesy of our love and care. If we cannot help the helpless what is the point? Without having seen it yourself, there is no way to know just how heartbreaking and hopeless this scene was, and though pictures will never do it justice. here is a storyboard I did up with pictures of the rescue.
15 comments:
awesome... whose dogs were they? did you find their owners? how did he get them down/up?
Hey Michelle...
The dogs belonged to people from a few streets over, and had been missing for a couple days. They had signs up that we had not seen, and things were very grim for them (they figured they had gone through the ice) so were very happy to be reunited with them.
Dave pretty much scaled the first half of the cliff just with his hands and feet, and then used a rope from the top of the cliff (others had climbed up there) to roap around himself and the dogs bellies to guide them up the cliff. It was so scary though, because the two dogs did not want to be seperated and soooo many times we thought they would fall. It really was a miracle.
Wow - WAY TO GO, HERO!! Yeah, Dave! Glad to see you're better at cliff climbing now :)
You're right, Julie - you couldn't not try. How fantastic that people were willing to take that risk.
And I'm certainly glad there was a happy ending.
Holy cow Julie! That is an amazing story! And your photo journaling of the event just makes it so much more incredible! You know you just go through life with nothing happening and then bam! excitement.
just so people know, since you really cannot tell from the pictures, these were easily 50 feet from the ground.
Wow. What a story. It's people like this that make you have more faith in people being good. I can't believe that the officials offered no help. You all deserve a big pat on the back for not turning a blind eye to those in need of help. Way to go. :)
CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU Good Samaritans ALL!!! I always figured we should be leasing the property to a rock-climbing club. Hey Dave, ever want to change professions?? Not everyone can DO that!!! Guess we need better fencing at the top but I guess dogs could easily find their way around most kinds of fencing. Thank goodness they were not children up there. (Sensing the sting of the possible liability) Sandi Willock (1/3 Property Owner)
CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU Good Samaritans ALL!!! I always figured we should be leasing the property to a rock-climbing club. Hey Dave, ever want to change professions?? Not everyone can DO that!!! Guess we need better fencing at the top but I guess dogs could easily find their way around most kinds of fencing. Thank goodness they were not children up there. (Sensing the sting of the possible liability) Sandi Willock (1/3 Property Owner)
We cannot wait to get home! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It's beautiful people like you that really puts faith back into humanity. Our names are Tracy and Roger Vigneault we are the owners of Harley and Mia. They are our little children. They had been missing since Wed night and all the family members had spent countless hours searching and canvassing the area looking for them. As was said we had come to the scarey conclusion that they may have gone through the ice. Our kids were devastated! My wife and I had to leave for an awards vacation that she had earned at work and we were having issues trying to enjoy ourselves while our dogs were still missing (5 days) and our heartbroken kids were at home. Imagine our joy when we got the message the dogs were saved and HEROS brought our girls home to our family! We are having a hard time keeping the tears back even now! We arrive home late Sunday night but I would really love to have all responsible over for a thank you dinner at some point. Could you please communicate with us through roger@perfectsource.ca and we will be in touch when we get home. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts!!!!!!
Hey, that's my grandpas old pit, and I've always been impressed by the sheer size of the rock face! I can't imagine what it must have been like for the dogs to be out there in the cold/wet probably scared half to death!
This is a feel good reality TV kinda story without the bad network execs... :)
The one picture that never got taken that made it all worthwhile for me was the one where the kids saw their dogs again.
Just that image would send me up there again. At least as soon as my muscles stopped hurting.
Dave
I truly hope the owners now know that it is so important to either keep their dogs in a fenced area or tied so this doesn't happen again! Congrats all who helped!
It really bugs me when people say that they are "only dogs"! For some people like me, dogs are part of your family. Thank you for everyone who saved those dogs. Great work!
It's really nice to see that humans can have as much unconditional love as these dear loving friends of ours! :)
that was so heroic of you and your husband. God will surely reward such a heart warming act that you did to helpless animals.
God bless
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