Last Wednesday, at the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, a woman hiking with her small, twelve-year-old dog, Liza, looked back over her shoulder to see that her pup had vanished. She’d fallen down into a deep rock crevice, according to Click Orlando.
A 12-year-old dog, Liza, was rescued near Gertrude’s Nose Trail in Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Ulster County on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, after failing into a deep crevice. https://t.co/u8HIwjfTGD
— Poughkeepsie Journal (@PokJournal) October 14, 2021
Liza had been in the crevice for five full days by the time the New Jersey Initial Response Team, a cave rescue volunteer group, was able to assist park staffers, who were unable to rescue the pup.
Two members from this team arrived on the scene, including Rescuer Jessica Van Ord. But after five days, neither Van Ord nor anyone else was certain that the pup would even still be alive.
Van Ord’s strategy was to lower down as close to the last known whereabouts of the dog, determine if the pup was alive, and then troubleshoot obstacles.
To do this within such a tight space, the team brought along a specialized camera, normally used in plumbing, that they could maneuver into the crevice.
Liza Miraculously Survived!
Kerhonkson, New York
Jessica Van Ord, a park official, leaves a fissure after she rescued a 12-year-old dog found trapped after five days deep inside the narrow rocky crevice at Minnewaska state park preserve #animalrescue
Photograph: AP https://t.co/ykV7uVDWBa pic.twitter.com/IOexZdwlSV— Vaxx Up & Wear A Mask (@gurlinthewurld) October 14, 2021
Van Ord determined with the specialized camera that Liza was alive. She further noticed that she was licking the damp walls of the crevice, which explained how she survived without water.
“The rejoicing on the surface to that news was just incredible and renewed everyone’s motivation to get this little dog to safety,” said Gina Carbonari, Executive Director of the Ulster County SPCA.
Not only had Liza miraculously survived those five days, but she’d also somehow survived a 40-foot descent into this crevice.
Even though we don’t know how Liza survived that fall, one must assume that the tight nature of the crevice provided more of a slide than a direct drop.
Either that or Liza is part spider.
Lured To Rescue With A Hot Dog
GREAT NEWS: A family dog is home safe after being rescued from a state park in Ulster County where it was trapped for five days. The 12-year-old dog, named Liza, was rescued Tuesday night from a rocky crevice inside Minnewaska State Park Preserve. https://t.co/UCbpDZjaY9 pic.twitter.com/IW0ff4ldVc
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) October 14, 2021
While the team knew that Liza was alive and well, they still had to get to her.
“This was a tight vertical fissure leading to an even tighter horizontal crack. Only Jessica Van Ord, our smallest team member, was able to squeeze and contort herself more than 40 feet from the surface to reach the dog,” Mark Dickey, Chief of the New Jersey Initial Response Team, said in a news release.
Van Ord shimmied herself into the crack enough to lower in a hot dog attached to the end of a modified pole used for catching animals. This was bait to bring Liza close enough to secure the loop from the pole around her head.
And it worked!
The team successfully pulled Liza pulled from the crevice, perfectly healthy aside from hunger and thirst. They placed Liza in a rescue pack where she could soon reunite with her human.
While we love to hear that rescuers saved Liza, her story serves as an important reminder to us dog parents. Always follow safety precautions when hiking with your dog. DogTime has a full guide to safely hiking with your pooch here!
Do you think you could survive in a deep, dark crevice for five days like Liza did? What do you think of the ingenuity of this rescue team? Let us know in the comments below!
