DYLAN THE DOG HAS LUCKY ESCAPE AT DURDLE DOOR

Dylan the black Labrador had a lucky escape this morning when he fell over the cliff at Durdle Door.

At just after this morning Portland Coastguard received a 999 call from Dylan’s distressed owners who could just see him on a steep grassy slope five metres down the cliff.

Lulworth Coastguard Rescue Team was sent to rescue Dylan. They managed to bring him to the top of the cliff at just after , where he was happily re-united with his owners. Both Dylan and his owners were uninjured.

Jennet Chisholm Coastguard Watch Officer said:                    
“The common incidents we see are where dogs have slipped or bounded over a cliff edge because they haven’t anticipated the drop ahead. Owners will then risk their lives to rescue their dogs and our Coastguard Rescue Teams often get called out to help.

“In the UK last year alone there were 227 coastal accidents involving dogs that required emergency assistance from Coastguard’s Rescue Teams and just last month a dog died after falling over the same cliff.
 
"We would advise all dog owners to keep dogs on a lead when on cliff paths as a protective measure. It can be tempting to let your dog walk off lead especially if that’s what they are used to and they are well trained, but accidents like this on coastal walks are not uncommon - keeping your dog on a lead can protect both you and your pet.”
 
-Ends –


Notes to Editors

  1. The MCA is a partner in the Sea Vision UK campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the sea and maritime activities.  Sea Vision promotes the importance and economic value of the sector and works to highlight the exciting range of activities and career opportunities available to young people within the UK growing maritime sector. www.seavisionuk.org
                          
  1. Stay safe - before heading out on the water get trained, check weather and tides, wear a lifejacket, avoid alcohol and keep in touch

  1. Follow us on Twitter. Find us at MCA_media

Popular posts from this blog

Label your kit at the coast

Image
Kayaks. Canoes. Paddleboards. What do they all have in common? They’re quite often found on the coastline or drifting out to sea. And if we don’t know who they belong to, we can spend time searching for an owner when they’re home safe and sound. So please help us to help you. Label your kit so that if you do get separated from it, and it turns up somewhere, we can get hold of you. In recent weeks, our Coastguard Rescue Teams have found numerous items such as kayaks and canoes drifting out at sea or abandoned near the shoreline. Unfortunately, some of the items we have found have not had their owners’ contact details written on them nor been reported as missing to the Coastguard. As a result, it makes it difficult for us to find out who it belongs to and also means we can never be completely sure if someone is safe or in the worst case, in trouble at sea. This can place a huge strain on our resources especially during the busy summer period when we have to call upon our Coastgua
Read more

A short history of HM Coastguard

Image
Today HM Coastguard is a world leader in maritime search and rescue. Looking back almost 200 years, the goods, which now travel by road, were carried by hundreds of small ships. Year in year out dozens of ships and hundreds of lives were lost within sight of the coast. Public shock and dismay at the tragedies drove forward the creation of national life saving organisations. Though it’s beginnings lie in those decades HM Coastguard originated not to meet the dangers of the seas but to combat a threat to the country’s economy and security – smuggling. As soon as medieval taxes were charged on imports and exports, people began smuggling. By 1743 th e estimate was that half the tea drunk in Britain was illegally imported and shows that smuggling was highly profitable. Smugglers have often been romanticised but the reality was brutal. Local people lived in fear, with violent reprisals on informers and the murder of revenue officers, while corruption enabled smugglers to evade harsh p
Read more

BOSCASTLE FLOODS: TEN YEARS ON

Image
Boscastle Flooding 16 th August 2004 The storms of Monday 16 August 2004 saw three weeks worth of rain fall in one day. The resulting water began to be funnelled down the valleys surrounding Boscastle and soon the steep roads became rivers. By the time that the water reached the picturesque village, it had picked up enough momentum to become a raging torrent, sweeping into buildings, washing cars away and felling huge trees. Graham King runs the Witches Museum in Boscastle and was also the station officer for the Boscastle Coastguard Rescue Team at the time of the floods: “ My museum is situated next to the harbour near the river ,” says Graham “ and I can see the coastguard equipment store from there. Initially I was concerned that the vehicle and equipment were going to become stranded but I soon began to realise how quickly the situation was deteriorating and called Falmouth Coastguard ” From that point on the villagers and tourists stranded in flood waters were he
Read more