Nipsey the pit bull is one lucky dog.
While hiking along the Howe Sound Crest with his owner on Saturday, Nipsey chased a chipmunk off the side of St. Mark’s Summit and ended up 140 feet down a steep cliff, out of his owner’s reach.
Crews from North Shore Rescue were called in to retrieve the dog, posting photos of the rescue on their Facebook page Sunday morning.
Team leader Mike Danks told CTV News the call came in as team members were already responding to the Howe Sound Crest for a lost hiker.
Danks said the Nipsey’s owner didn’t think he could make it safely down the steep cliff to rescue the dog, so he called NSR.
“He made the right call in asking us for help,” Danks said. “We have no problem assisting on those calls.”
Three team members set up an anchor at the top of the peak and climbed down the southwest side to where Nipsey was stranded on a ledge.
“He was definitely ecstatic to see people coming for him,” said rescue leader Jim Loree of the dog.
The rescuers improvised a harness for the dog and pulled him up to safer ground. Nipsey was not injured in the ordeal.
Danks and Loree said it’s fairly rare for NSR to get called in to rescue a stranded dog - rather than a stranded human.
More commonly, dogs will run off, go missing, and turn up later, walking out of the bush alone or with humans other than their owners, the rescuers said.
Rescuing a dog isn’t unheard of, however, and Danks said his organization is happy to help.
“Our motivation is the safety of the person, first and foremost,” he said. “At the same time, we understand people aren’t going to leave without their dogs.”
For Loree, the lesson is to be prepared. Nipsey’s rescue didn’t take too long, but if it had been later in the day when it started, the rescue could have ended in the dark, and the dog’s owner didn’t have a flashlight with him.
“We always advocate being prepared,” Loree said. “It doesn’t take much to be delayed.”
