BUDE Coastguard recently assisted Hartland Coastguard in rescuing a dog from the cliffs by South Pole, near Hartland.

On Sunday, August 14, a lady and her friend had been walking her dog, a black cocker spaniel, along the cliffs by South Hole, close to the village of Hartland, when some sheep jumped out from behind some gorse along the path.

The sheep managed to get clear, but the spaniel went over approximately 30 or 40 feet onto a small ledge. Unharmed, but stuck and yelping for its owner, the Hartland Coastguard Search and Rescue Team were immediately paged, with the Bude Coastguard being asked to attend as back up. During the shout, there were around 16 coastguards on scene.

A rope rescue was arranged and a cliff technician was lowered to rescue the dog. However, the dog, apparently ‘very happy’ to see the technician, was at risk of posing more danger, with the possibility of slipping much further down the cliff.

Luckily, the coastguards’ training kicked in, and the dog was secured and brought back to the top of the cliff safely, to the delight of a very happy, but worried, owner.

A spokesperson for the Hartland Coastguard said: “The key point is that owners that call the coastguard in this situation should try not to rescue the dogs themselves, as they will likely get in trouble as well.

“The coastguards are volunteers, and they dropped everything on a beautiful, sunny afternoon with friends and family to be there when the pager went off.”

Appreciation has been expressed to the coastguards from both Hartland and Bude teams in attendance, with many of the Hartland team having been involved in running or taking part in the recent Hartland Carnival the evening before the shout.