Emergency services / Dog rescued by coastguard after cliff fall
Dog owner Matthew Nicolson offers ‘sincere thanks’ to coastguard crews
THERE was a happy ending for a sheepdog called Skye who sparked a coastguard call-out after falling down a cliff in the south mainland on Monday.
Coastguard rope teams from Sumburgh, Lerwick and Hillswick coordinated the rescue at the Wick of Shunni late in the afternoon.
After assessing if a rescue was possible, rope technician Brian Leslie from the Sumburgh team was deployed over the 100m cliff.
However, he was unable to reach Skye due to the incoming waves.
The coastguard said the rope rescue teams managed to reposition further along the coastline, allowing Leslie to lower safely towards Skye and retrieve her.
With the nights drawing in the rescue was concluded in the darkness.
The sheepdog’s owner, Matthew Nicolson from Twatt, told Shetland News: “Skye is currently recovering well at home, surprisingly with only minor scrapes and bruising to show for her ordeal. I’d like to commend the coastguard team involved for their display of skill, teamwork and professionalism during her retrieval, and offer them my sincere thanks.”
The incident comes after coastguard rescue teams from Hillswick and Lerwick were tasked to locate two people lost in thick fog on Collafirth Hill on 19 September.
A search team from the Hillswick team located the walkers around 45 minutes after setting off from Collafirth Hill car park.
Shetland Coastguard coordinated the rescue effort and provided the walkers with advice and support over the phone.
Their position was located by using the what3words app which enabled the search team to find them quickly.
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