GLACE BAY, N.S. — Although Thanksgiving is a day people give thanks, for Tracy Power and her mastiff Roxy, there was an abundance of extra gratitude.
At least 30 firefighters from four fire departments across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality banned together Monday evening to rescue Roxy, after the 65-pound dog fell down a 50-foot cliff in Glace Bay and was stranded on a tiny ledge above crashing waves.
Power said she’s very thankful for her dog, the Glace Bay Fire Department and other rescuers who were on scene.
“We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend for sure,” she said. “It makes me want to cry.”
Power said it all began at about 4 p.m. when she went cranberry picking at Shea’s Lane with her boyfriend and their dogs Roxy and beagle mix puppy Pickles.
“Next thing you know Roxy was over the cliff,” Power said, her voice cracking with emotion. “She was down there screaming and barking.”
Power said they tried to get down but there was no way to access that area of the cliffs. They couldn’t even see their dog under the overhanging cliff, so they went over to the adjacent side where they discovered Roxy on a little ledge tucked into the cliff.
“The tide was coming in, the sun was going down,” she said. “The waves were rushing on the rocks and almost took her out a few times.”
Power said they called 911 and the fire department was on the scene immediately.
“They showed up with rescue boats,” she said. “It was all pretty scary and pretty amazing.”
RESCUERS RESPOND
John Chant, fire chief of the Glace Bay Fire Department, said they received a 911 call at about 5:45 p.m. Monday of a dog over the bank.
Arriving at the scene, the dog was about 40 feet down the cliff on a ledge about six or seven feet above the ocean.
Chant said there’s no beach there so the dog must have landed in the water.
“Either the waves took her up on the ledge there or she got up on the ledge herself,” he said.
“There was absolutely no access, you couldn’t get down to it.”
Chant decided to bring their water rescue boat out and the Albert Bridge and Dominion fire departments responded to assist.
However, in the meantime the swells got higher, making it too dangerous for the boats to get too close to where the dog was.
At that point Chant called in their technical rope rescue team and the New Victoria team to assist. While the teams were setting up, one of the Dominion firefighters who was in ice rescue gear was tethered to the rescue boat, deciding to swim over to see if he could rescue the dog.
Chant said the firefighter swam about 50 feet out to the dog and was able to coax her in the water, holding onto her as he swam to the Glace Bay water rescue boat.
Meanwhile, Chant kept the owners of the dog with him at Eleventh Street.
Chant said these are treacherous banks. In fact, it is the same area where two people drowned in recent years.
“We know the area well,” he said. “We had the owners next to me for safety reasons.”
THE REUNION
By the time the rescue took place it was dark. However, they all then heard over the radio Roxy had been rescued and was safe.
“They were ecstatic,” Chant said of the dog’s owners. “She gave me a big hug, he gave me a high-five and they went down to the Glace Bay harbour to get reunited.”
Power couldn’t praise the rescuers enough. She said they were on scene immediately and tried one thing after another until they successfully rescued her.
“It was her first boat ride and she loved it,” Power said.
“She was crying, very vocal, was totally ecstatic. I think she kissed every one of the firemen before getting off the boat. She was so happy, I think she was saying ‘thank you’ to everybody.”
Chant said he is a huge animal lover, along with everyone else on scene Monday night.
“There were a lot of high-fives at the top of the banks by rescuers at the wharf,” he said. “There were some tears too.”
Chant said it makes him proud knowing they have this level of professionalism with firefighters in the CBRM.
Although the efforts took a lot of resources, Chant said dogs are family members. He said they also have to look at such a situation knowing if the dog remains there with no way to get off the ledge, someone in the general public will take a chance and try to rescue the dog themselves.
“If we don’t resolve that situation safely with the experience we have around those waters then the public will try these rescues and all of a sudden there will be a situation where there will be a person in the water too we will have to try and rescue. We try and elevate these situations as quickly as possible.”
Power said since the good news of the rescue, her phone hasn’t stopped and she has been swarmed with messages on Facebook.
“It’s heartwarming actually to see there’s so many people out there who care about animals,” she said.
Amazingly enough, there wasn’t even a scratch on Roxy.
“She’s a brute,” she added, laughing, while at the Glace Bay Fire Department Tuesday to thank the firefighters.
Power warned everyone to stay away from the cliffs from the Hub at Eighth Street through to Bridgeport because the shore is all overhanging cliffs ready to give away.
“That’s what happen to her,” she said. “She got a little too close to the cliff with the puppy and the cliff let go. We are thankful to everyone.”
