Coastguard Rescue Officers are working to free a dog that has gone over the cliff and become stuck in thick mud at Bembridge this afternoon (Wednesday).
A rescue mission is underway to reach a Springer Spaniel that has got into difficulty on the East Coast of the Isle of Wight at the rear of Kingswood, between Forelands and Whitecliff Bay.
Island Echo understands the animal ran away from its owner and went over the cliff edge shortly before 12:30, falling some distance before becoming stuck in the mud.
A 2nd dog also went over the cliff, but was able to recover itself to the cliff top.
Bembridge Coastguard Rescue Team have been joined at the scene by the specialist mud rescue team from Ventnor.
In what is a rather unusual set of circumstances, officers in mud rescue gear are also having to don cliff rescue equipment to be lowered over the edge and onto the muddy ledge.
Equipped with a dog rescue bag, they hope to reach the animal shortly
The Spaniel is alive, but thought to be very cold.
UPDATE @ 17:46 – After several hours and a complex rescue, the mud-covered dog – Jess – has now been reunited with its owner.
The challenging, muddy conditions led to a protracted incident for Coastguards, who have now stood down from the incident.
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I hope the dog owners get the bill for the rescue. For God’s sake people, take responsibility for your dogs. Keep them on a lead, especially if they are near cliff edges, livestock or other dogs. Well done to the rescue services.
why is it off its lead on a cliff top
Cue the Dog Haters… whinging that all dogs should be kept on leads
(lets see how many negative votes I get for this LOL)
Dogs (especially Spaniels) do need to be able to run loose & unfortunately sometimes these things just happen ….
In glad the wonderful people from the Coast Guard don’t hate dogs as muct as most commenters on here,..
Totally agree with you, this dog has been running these same paths for 14yrs off lead.
Well they wonder why the fall then dumb ass
Lovely, but you can’t expect dogs to understand dangers in life, the owner should have realised what COULD happen.
Better to be safe than sorry – as the old saying goes. Glad it ended well. It so easily could have not!
Why let dogs off a lead when you’re near a cliff you let them off the lead when youre in a field away from roads and cliffs , poor dog hope its okay…and the owners
“Bit unfortunate” that one dog went over the cliff, but two ?
From a dog lover, not to keen on dog owners though.
i am NOT a dog hater i have a dog but it should be keep on a lead especially on cliff top and if your a owner you would know that
Only if you’re a responsible dog owner, evidently.
I’m not a dog hater, but I really do dislike dog owners who don’t take on proper responsibility for their dogs and fail to control or discipline them. Sounds like these were lemmings rather than dogs anyway.
If dog owners showed more responsibility, then people wouldn’t feel the negativity they do.
The ball is firmly in the court of dog owners to change their behaviour, and clean up their image.
Would you let a small child run around at the cliff edge? Hopefully the answer to that is no. Why would you let a dog do it then?
Heartworking to see these good people showing kindness to another sentient being . . . and great training for the day when they rescue a human!
I guess this dog wasn’t attached to its owner, i.e. on a lead?
Poor pooch, hope he has recovered ok, thank goodness for our rescue services
I call it irresponsible. I have never let my dogs off a lead, just give them a longer lead
Cliff edge….. dog…..not on a lead. It always ends the same way! Why can’t some people see the dangers?
Glad the doggo was rescued by the fantastic specialist rescue team. Very well done.
Let’s hope this is a lesson learnt for the owner.
Love a happy ending. To much negative energy in these comments. Personally, I feel there are far more humans that should be kept of a leash, but hey ho.
Fact, as described by the National Geoghrapical society ” A cliff is a mass of rock which rises very high, and is almost vertical.”
Anyone who is acquainted with the Forelands side of Whitecliff Bay, will know Culver cliff drops of very rapidly where it becomes more of a steep sloping incline onto the beach. One dog went down towards the beach and returned. The only issue here was the dog getting stuck in the mud and needing to be rescued.
island echo’s use of the word “cliff edge” is very misleading.
Thank you Jon, my thoughts exactly (saved me writing it)
For a dog (especially a Spaniel), that sort of slope is no issue at all.
(It’s just the Humans who need ropes etc)
it seems like the mud, on the other hand, was a bit too much for a spaniel (which is saying something)
but well done and thank you to the Coast Guard for their persistance in rescuing that lovelly dog.
A great deal of money spent because two dogs are not leashed, not to mention human lives that are put at risk because one owner can’t be bothered to keep dogs on a lead
Hope the owner will be billed !!!!!
The fact the animal became stuck in thick mud is unfortunate. However, the 5 hours plus to extract the dog is a total joke. Why didn’t those making the decisions request assistance of the RNLI ?!! Surely a couple of blokes could have been drop onto the beach with specialist equipment, extracted the dog & been picked up & taken to the slipway at Lane end & hosed down. I would of thought that method would have been a great deal quicker than the lengthy time this all took. Sounds like most of five plus hours were spent umming & arrring while the of poor frightened animal remained stuck in cold wet mud!!