A man and dog were roped back to safety after the pooch fell down a cliff near the Cypress Falls waterfall in West Vancouver Sunday.
West Vancouver Fire and Rescue came to save the duo after receiving a call just before 9 a.m. Sunday. When they got to the scene, the dog and the man were roughly 30 metres (100 feet) below, near the water’s edge.
Nearly a dozen crew members set up a rope system to reach the pair, first retrieving the dog and then the man. To their surprise, the man and dog were injury free.
“It was very shocking,” said Assistant Chief of Operations Junior Harvey. “We’ve had a few calls in that area before, and it’s [a] pretty gnarly area to hike in.”
Harvey said a couple of friends went out hiking with a dog Sunday morning. As they were hiking, the dog went off the trail. The dog lost his footing on a steep part of the cliff and fell. The owner’s friend then climbed down to help rescue the pooch and carry him to a dry area waiting for firefighters to come.
They wrapped up the call just before noon on Sunday, Harvey said, adding that it’s important to be aware of your surroundings, especially when going down certain trails and with pets.
“It’s just that situational awareness for folks when they go on hikes, animals are kind of unpredictable sometimes,” Harvey said. “So in this case, I don’t know what exactly happened, but we do have some great trails, but some of them are a little bit more dangerous than others.”
Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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