ELORA – Elora and Fergus firefighters responded to a call on Sunday for a dog falling into the Elora Gorge, but unfortunately the dog did not survive.
Centre Wellington deputy fire chief Jonathan Karn said the call came in around 10am on May 23.
The two stations automatically respond to any kind of technical rescue call and about 30 firefighters were on the scene for about two hours, Karn said.
OPP also responded and directed traffic around the site. Grand River Conservation Area staff were also on scene.
Karn said the dog had fallen about 60 feet to the bottom of the gorge, in the area of the Wellington Road 7 bridge and the walking trail.
Firefighters rappelled to the bottom and retrieved the animal for the family.
Submitted photo
“They were on a marked trail and not out of the boundary area. But the dog got away from them,” Karn said.
He noted the fire department sometimes receives criticism for having so much manpower to retrieve an animal, “but this is a pet and that makes them family members,” he said.
“Often people will try to retrieve their pet themselves and that’s not a safe situation for anyone.”
Karn said as the weather warms and the trails are getting busier, he’s reminding people to stick to the trails and to keep pets on a leash.
“Pets don’t have the capacity to know if they are on the dangerous side or not,” he continued.
“Once they get close to the edge, the ground can be unstable. It’s easy to fall.”
Karn said the fire department receives a number of calls every year for animals that have fallen over the edge, “and generally it’s not a great outcome.”
In this case, “this was not negligence,” he stressed. “This was accidental. It was likely an off-leash mistake.”
