A senior dog who was trapped at the bottom of a ravine in Lisbon for nearly seven hours is now safe at home after a rescue by the Columbiana County Humane Society.
Nadine Kale was looking for her dog Isabella for hours. But when she finally found her, the dog was in water at the bottom of a ravine about 50 to 60 feet deep.
The ravine was near State Route 45 in Lisbon.
The Columbiana County Humane Society Chief Humane Officer says that a rescue 50 to 60 feet down in a ravine was one of the hardest rescues he’s ever seen. Kaitlyn McCarthy has the details on the rescue.
After Kale and the family were unable to get the dog out of the water, they called police for help. The Columbiana County Sheriff’s Department contacted the Columbiana Humane Society, asking if they could help.
Fabian Pike, Columbiana County Chief Humane officer, immediately agreed.
“I swung by the shelter, I picked up a ladder, my humane associate, a couple 60 foot ropes and then my ambulatory litter for dogs,” said Pike.
The rescue started around 11:20 a.m. Sunday, and took well over an hour to get the dog reunited with the family.
“Honestly I was concerned about the dog’s safety. Was the dog okay? Did it tumble? It’s a senior dog,” said Pike.
Pike placed two ladders, and slid most of the way down. He then had to go through water to get the dog. Pike said he and his humane associate had to float Isabella about 25 to 35 feet to land.
At one point, he said water was up to his neck as he tried floating the dog over to land.
He then strapped the dog into a litter, which is an emergency item that helps safely transport dogs.
“Because the dog was so tired, it didn’t put up that much of a fight. I strapped him to the litter. So a lot of times when you strap the dog to the litter, they just jump, go at you, cause you a lot of grief, but the dog had been there for so long that she couldn’t even walk when she got to the top,” said Pike.
Pike said the hardest part of the rescue was getting the dog up to his family who was helping pull the dog up with a rope from above.
That process took about an hour.
Once they got to the top, Isabella was unable to walk for 30 minutes. Eventually she got the strength and started walking around with her family.
“She stood up and she slowly kind of walked away with her owners, which was great. It made me feel good,” said Pike.
Pike said Isabella does not appear to have any injuries.