A search and rescue team in Utah had – quite literally – a mountain to climb when they set out to save poor Mary the dog from a cliff ledge where she was apparently stranded.
However, the kind efforts of the volunteers from Utah County Search and Rescue didn’t quite pan out as they might have hoped.
The volunteers spent a reported two hours trying to bait Mary from the ledge where she was found, hanging from harnesses over a 50ft drop.
But their efforts to bring her down were to end in vain as Mary was too nervous to approach the strange men in climbing gear.
“We hate to fail. It takes time,” rescue worker Shaun Roundy told ABC4 Utah. “Towards the end, it was disappointing when we realised there was nothing more to do without putting the dog more at risk.”
The volunteers said they gave Mary some food before leaving. However when they returned the next morning – this time with nets – she had vanished.
They later learned the owner had gone to the ledge and managed to coax down Mary, who sustained just a few cuts and bruises.
So, the story does have a happy ending and Mary made it down the mountain all on her own – good girl!
Perhaps spare a thought for those volunteers’ legs though…
