During an walk early Monday evening at Clark Reservation, a state park in upstate New York, a 1-year-old Doberman named Remy fell through snow into a deep crevice.
“She kind of just disappeared,” her dog mom, Keanna Rose, told Syracuse.com. “One second she was there and one second she was gone.”
Remy, who was unleashed and wandering off the main trail, fell about halfway into the 20-foot-deep hole. Her head was wedged between the rocks, with her legs sticking up behind her, Rose said.
“She was whimpering,” Rose told Syracuse.com. “You could tell she was in pain and she was scared.”
Rose and her boyfriend called for help.
A group of firefighters from the Jamesville and Pompey Hill fire departments, along with volunteers, worked for nearly eight hours trying, unsuccessfully, to use a rope to free Remy. It was especially difficult since the opening of the crevice was only about a foot wide.
During their rescue efforts, it started raining, and Remy fell even farther down the hole. The rescuers had to use a mirror to see the dog.
Just after midnight, a VMC employee called Nate Farrington, who does vertical caving and rock climbing, hoping he could assist.
Using a rope, Farrington was able to descend into the crevice.
“The only thing I was finally able to do was get a catch pole loop around her neck area after I entered the crevice and, once we finally freed her from the position she was in, another loop went around her legs to take some of the pressure off her neck,” Farrington wrote in an email. “It wasn’t ideal, but it was the only option we were left with as time drew on.”
Jeff Kunsman, one of the volunteers, told CNY Central, “To have somebody who was able to come in and fit down the hole and be able to get [her] was absolutely key to the situation.”
Remy was taken to the Veterinary Medical Center of CNY and treated for her injuries. She was released from the hospital yesterday.
“Remy is now home with her family! She is still having a hard time walking, but we are still hopeful [for] a full recovery!” Rose wrote on a GoFundMe.com page she created to help with Remy’s veterinary bills. As of this morning, $250 of her $1,500 goal has been raised.
“I think the public has done enough for them in this instance of their chosen carelessness,” wrote “Fed_up1978” in a comment on the Syracuse.com story. “Had the dog been on a leash none of this would have happened. The tax payers already funded the rescue. The vet bills are their responsibility. It’s a consequence of their choice to break the leash rules!”
Karen M. donated $20 via the GoFundMe.com page. “Here’s to a speedy recovery and a harness for your future adventures!” she wrote.
Dogs are required to be leashed in Clark Reservation. Hopefully Remy’s — and all — pet parents will follow this rule in the future.
Photos via GoFundMe.com
The part of this story describing Nate Farrington’s rescue of Remy has been corrected — he did not use a harness to free Remy, as I originally wrote.