Clontarf: Canine saved by firefighters in dramatic cliff fall rescue near Cutler Road
Images capture the moment specially trained ‘vertical’ rescue firefighters saving a spaniel that toppled over a Clontarf cliff.
Manly
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Specialist emergency rescue services had to be called on after a desperate dog owner dialled triple-0 when her pooch went head over heels down a cliff on the northern beaches.
The spritely spaniel was out for an afternoon walk in the bush bordering Middle Harbour at Clontarf when it spotted a lizard and took off in pursuit.
But instead of retrieving the reptile, the dog toppled over a boulder on the edge of the Clontarf Track — a popular section of The Spit to Manly Walk — at about 3.15pm on Wednesday.
Northern Beaches Police said the owner watched in helpless horror as her dog slipped off the boulder and down into a tangle of buses and trees above the waterline, not far from Castle Rock Beach.
The cliff was too steep for the spaniel to climb back up
A NSW Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said the triple zero operator could here the dog’s howls of distress as its owner made the call for help.
“Firefighters from the Narrabeen station, who are trained in vertical rescue operations, were called in aloin it the station from Crows Nest,” the spokeswoman said.
One of the firefighters abseiled down to the dog and gathered it up in his arms before climbing back to the track.
A grateful owner hen bundled the nervous looking pup home. No injuries to human or dogs, were sustained.