A young dog that slipped her leash at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore fell 60 feet from a cliff near Miners Castle and, though forced to spend a cold night on a ledge, was rescued in good condition Thursday and reunited with her owners.
According to park staff, the 3-year-old dog named Dancer fell off the cliff Wednesday evening. After hours of searching the area, Dancer’s owners were unable to locate their dog in the dark and were convinced she had not survived the fall, a park release said.
Later that night, Pictured Rocks rangers received notification of the lost dog. The rangers enlisted the help of Superior High Angle Rescue Professionals (SHARP), a rope rescue team, to recover the dog from the treacherous section of Lake Superior shoreline.
SHARP members Erik Olsen, Westley Shaffer, and Tyler Davis went to the area Thursday morning and were able to locate a cold, but alive, Dancer. Though she had spent the night trying to keep warm, she was excited to see rescuers. Dancer, who has been described as a “professional troublemaker," according to the release, was reunited with her Minnesota-based family and is recovering well.
“With this year’s mild start to winter, many areas of Pictured Rocks are more accessible than they are most years,” Chief Ranger Joe Hughes said. “It is still important to remember to be prepared for slippery, cold conditions that can change quickly.”
For more information on how to keep your four-legged friends safe while visiting Pictured Rocks, which is on the Lake Superior shoreline in Michigan, visit this webpage: https://www.nps.gov/piro/planyourvisit/pets.htm
Comments
If the dog slipped her leash, why is her collar still on? Uh, I call bs on the dog slipping her leash.
I'm not a fan of pets in our NPs. My experience with pet owners in NPs is that they too often believe that the rules do not apply to them. One particular egregious violation occurred in Glacier NP a few years ago as I came down the Granite Park Trail and encountered dog off leash about 1 mile from the Loop. I reminded the owner that there was clear signage barring pets from the trails--she was not pleased to be held to account for her transgression.
I recognize the trend of more & more pet owners taking their pets to our NPs and not caring much about the rules--just one more reason why our NPs are less appealing than they use to be.