EPIC LABRADOODLE RESCUE FOR EAST SUSSEX COASTGUARD RESCUE TEAMS
Coastguard Rescue Teams from Hastings and Rye Bay have been
working to rescue a Labradoodle called Pepper that slipped over the cliffs at
Ecclesbourne Glen near Hastings yesterday afternoon at just before three o’clock.
The call was passed to the Maritime Rescue Coordination
Centre at Dover (MRCC) by Sussex Police. The MRCC sent Hastings Coastguard Rescue Team
to the scene and a cliff man spotted Pepper on a very narrow ridge. The
Hastings team then spent the next four hours trying to persuade Pepper to come close
enough to them to be rescued but she refused. The Hastings team were joined
by the Rye Coastguard Rescue team who approached from the opposite end of the
ridge and tried to tempt her with dog treats and meat snacks but Pepper wouldn’t
be persuaded to come to them. At 11pm last night, in total darkness, the teams
had to give up for the night.
The teams returned to the scene this morning and finally at
just before five thirty this evening managed to persuade Pepper to allow herself
to be rescued by the cliff man.
Pepper was unhurt but thirsty and exhausted. Delighted to be
reunited her owner John from London said:
“I never thought that she would run through the gorse and no
idea that there was a sheer cliff on the other side of it. I will never again walk
Pepper off the lead near a cliff and would strongly advise other dog owners to
learn from our experience and always, always keep your dog on a lead near
cliffs.”