Dog owner full of praise for coastguard officers after rescue
THE OWNER of the dog rescued in Lerwick on Friday evening has praised coastguard officers for their “fantastic” job in saving the stricken staffie.
Heather Butler said she wanted to thank the coastguard rescue officers, adding that “I can’t stress how good these guys and girls were”.
Coastguard teams, with the assistance of the Lerwick Lifeboat, came to the aid of the dog – named Jack – who got stuck down a rocky inlet at the Ness of Sound after falling down a cliff.
Volunteer rescue officers, who were tasked at around teatime, managed to wade into the inlet to rescue the dog.
Butler was full of praise for those involved in the the operation, saying they were “fast to respond and utterly efficient”.
She stressed that she was not walking her dog in the dark, and that Jack took off from the flat area and disappeared.
“Jack is a very obedient dog, so I so knew something was wrong,” Butler said.
“He fell over the cliff. It was a fair height. The worry was that the tide was coming in and was very near him. It was very, very scary. The dog was screaming in terror.
“I went to the edge, but he was too far down. These guys went along a very dangerous and very slippery cliff edge. The water is fathoms deep at this inlet.”
She highlighted that the coastguard’s job is dangerous, and encouraged folk to support them where they can.
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