Two men rescued from 200ft cliff after attempting to rescue dog in Devon (with footage)

Last Sunday, UK Coastguard rescued two young men from a 200ft cliff at Dame Hole Point near Welcombe after they'd climb down it to try and rescue a dog, who had escaped from its lead and fallen.

The men had managed to climb down a precarious cliff path to reach the dog but quickly realised they couldn’t climb back up or down safely and a member of the public quickly phoned the Coastguard for help.

Bude and Hartland Coastguard Rescue Teams were immediately sent to the scene along with the UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Newquay.  With dusk fast approaching, the Coastguard Rescue Teams set about preparing for a rope rescue and a helicopter landing site as a precautionary back up.The two men and the dog were winched from the cliff and unharmed from the incident but sadly the dog had died during the incident.

This tragic incident serves as a reminder to all loving dog owners out there.  We all love our dogs but please do not attempt to rescue your dog if it's fallen down a cliff or starts getting swept out to sea.  Call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

Remember for you and your dog's safety, keep away from cliff edges and always keep your dog on a lead.  If they pick up the scent of an animal or hear something on the coast below it doesn’t take much for them to follow their nose. Nine times out of ten a dog will rescue itself and return to their owners alive, but tragically some owners do not. Last week's incident could have been very different.


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