Dog rescued from 60-foot fall down embankment

Josephine Co., Ore. — A black lab was rescued from a ravine near Galice on Thursday night. Rural Metro Fire crews were called to help retrieve the dog, after he fell down a 60-foot embankment while walking with his owner.

“Poor dog was down there, and, fortunately from Alaska, so it had a good coat and it was warm,” Firefighter Annetta Cooper said. “This is the first time we’ve gone down a trail for a dog.”

The tumble happened while he and his owner were walking a trail near the Graves Creek boat ramp outside of Galice. After a 45 minute drive out, and a 30 minute hike in, Cooper and her team finally reached the injured lab.

“Put my hand out, talked to–Travis, was the dogs name, ‘Travis, we’re here to help you,'” Cooper said. “And Travis kind of leaned forward and licked my hand, and I figure we were kind of okay from there.”

The crew hoisted him up, and strapped him to a rescue litter.

“Sometimes he sat up, and sometimes he laid down, and took the ride out just, easy as can be,” Cooper noted.

While Travis took it all in stride, Cooper says it wasn’t as easy as he made it look.

“We actually had a few waterfalls, not just creeks that we had to go through on the trail,” Cooper said.

Even with the dangerous turns their adventure took Thursday night, Cooper says victory all comes down to one thing.

“I have a great team, i work with a great bunch of guys,” Cooper said. “The dog seemed to realize we were there to help, so that made it a lot easier.”

The dog’s owner Christine told NBC5 News that Travis would be taken to the vet.

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