
Christmas Day shout to dog in red jumper is a record breaker for Lyme Regis RNLI
A dog dressed in a red festive jumper is the latest casualty to be assisted by the volunteer crew of RNLI Lyme Regis in their first ever service call out on a Christmas Day.
Whilst most of the nation sat down to enjoy Christmas lunch, the volunteer crew of RNLI Lyme Regis headed out to sea to search for a dog which had fallen from the top of cliffs at Pinhay Bay, two miles west of Lyme Regis harbour. Emergencies services had been called by the dog’s owners after it had disappeared over the edge of the cliff and was unable to make its way back up to the top, or down to the beach 30 metres below.
The Lyme Regis crew launched their RNLI Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Spirit of Loch Fyne at 12:58 pm and arrived on scene seven minutes later and immediately commenced search of the cliffs towards Humble Point. The volunteer crew eventually spotted the dog, a beagle/pug cross named ‘Cook’, perched on a ledge 20 metres up the cliff face. Two crew members swam ashore and, once on the beach, attempted to coax the dog down to safety.
Volunteer crewman Andy Butterfield takes up the story, ‘The dog could see us and hear us, but he made it very clear he was not interested in leaving his ledge and making his way down to the beach. All he did was sit up there barking and howling at us. The base of the cliff was too unstable for us to climb up to him, so we quickly concluded that ‘Cook’ would have to be rescued from above.’
HM Coastguard Rescue Teams from Lyme Regis and Beer had also been tasked to the incident. They set up equipment to enable them to carry out a rope rescue. ‘Cook’, apparently uninjured by his Christmas Day drama, was eventually reunited with its grateful owners on the cliff top.
Once RNLI volunteer crew Andy Butterfield and Giles Bristow were confident that the dog was safely in the care of the Coastguard team, they made their way along the shoreline to Humble Point where they were able to swim back to the waiting lifeboat.
Spirit of Loch Fyne returned to Lyme Regis at 3:50 pm where it was met by shore crew for a fresh water washdown before all volunteers were able to rejoin their families for a delayed Christmas lunch. This was the 55th service call RNLI Lyme Regis crew have responded to this year, the highest number since the charity reopened the station in 1967.
The advice to dog owners from the RNLI and HM Coastguard is to keep your dog on a lead when you are close to a cliff edge or harbour wall.
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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