A rope rescue technician was lowered through breaking waves to reach a man and his Belgian Malinois after the tide cut them off in a sea cave in West Cumbria, England.
Rescuers brought them out one at a time, hoisting the dog first in an animal rescue bag and lifting the owner afterward in a rescue strop.
Here's what to know
A walk along the shore between Workington and Salterbeck turned into an emergency when the incoming tide cut the man off. After he called a relative, Workington Lifeboat Station was alerted, and Workington RNLI launched its D-class inshore lifeboat, James R Allan, at 9:55 a.m. on Oct. 26, Cumbria Crack reported.
Belfast Coastguard checked that the distress call was genuine before dispatching rescuers. The lifeboat reached the first reported location at 10:05 a.m., found nobody there, and was then directed farther south by Belfast Coastguard.
When crews finally spotted him, the man was a few feet up the cliff face. Because the weather made it unsafe for the lifeboat to land, Whitehaven and Maryport Coastguard Rescue Teams, along with a full-time coastguard officer, were moved into place on the clifftop above.
A Workington RNLI spokesman described the operation as "A great example of multi-agency working and thanks to our Coastguard colleagues and the helicopter crew."
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More background
As time passed and waves continued breaking below, efforts to persuade the man to come down were unsuccessful, and the Coastguard helicopter from Caernarfon had not yet arrived. The officer in charge then decided to send down a rope rescue technician on a twin-rope system.
Once rescuers secured anchor points on the clifftop, they lowered the technician into the cave. Inside, the man and his dog were trapped and badly shaken, although neither had suffered any physical injury.
With the owner's help, rescuers put the Belgian Malinois into an animal rescue bag and lifted the dog out first. The technician then descended again, secured the man in a rescue strop, and raised him to the clifftop, where he was reunited with his pet.
HM Coastguard's role in Cumbria extends beyond cliff and shoreline rescues to coordinating search-and-rescue responses in inland waters including Derwentwater, Ullswater, Coniston, and Windermere.
What's being done?
Belfast Coastguard verified the report, redirected the search after the first location proved empty, and requested helicopter support from Caernarfon while local teams positioned themselves above the cave.
By noon, the helicopter and lifeboat had both been released from the incident. The lifeboat returned to the station by 12:15 p.m., while coastguard teams stayed on to clean, check, and account for the equipment used in the rope rescue.
"This incident is a timely reminder of the importance to check the tide times and conditions before setting off for a walk," said a Workington RNLI spokesman.
Whitehaven Coastguard Rescue Team said, "On the clifftop it was a happy moment watching the owner and dog be reunited."
Where can I learn more?
These stories involve dogs and owners caught in dangerous situations near water or cliffs, much like the Cumbria cave rescue. The incidents span rivers, surf, offshore waters, cliff edges, and a crater lake in California, South Africa, Devon, and South Australia.
• In California, a woman and her dog were stranded on a boulder until drones found them.
• Off Pollock Beach in South Africa, rescuers launched for a dog swept 650 feet offshore.
• In California surf, a driver escaped a van before crews saved a second dog from rocks.
• On a South Devon walk, a snapped lead sparked a cliff-edge rescue in dense gorse.
• In South Australia, a missing dog was rescued from a crater-lake cliff after a week.
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