Kim Gregory thought his dog Jack was a goner. After chasing a rabbit on a hilltop in England last week, the 9-year-old collie careened over the edge, tumbling down a scarily steep cliff.
"When I got to the edge of the cliff and looked over, my heart just dropped. I was convinced that was it," Gregory told U.K.'s The Sun. "The cliffs are very jagged around there and the drop is sheer in places. I didn't think he could ever have survived. We looked all over for him and 20 minutes later I spotted him on a ledge."
The Coast Guard was alerted, and a crew came to the rocky Seatown, Dorset, ledge. For four hours, they worked to reach Jack, but in the face of heavy rain and 60 mph winds, it was too much. Gregory checked into a local hotel for the night – he'd just been visiting the area with Jack and his other dog Max for the day – and hoped for the best.
But just like an eerily similar accident earlier this year – when another rabbit-chasing plunge brought an English dog over a cliff – this story had a happy ending. The next morning, crews returned to the ledge, where Jack was still waiting patiently, though frightened. "One of the coast guard team eventually managed to get down to the ledge, put him into a special doggy rescue bag and lifted him up with ropes," Gregory says. "I saw his head poking out of the bag and as soon as he saw me, his tail started wagging."
After a quick exam – and some food and water – Jack was given the all clear. "He's back home being spoiled now," says Gregory, a father of four. "He's one very lucky dog indeed."
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