This is the tearful moment a dog was reunited with its owner after falling more than 100ft over a cliff.
Sprocker spaniel Figgy was walking with owner Kayley Williams over Thor’s den in the Peak District just after 6.30am on Wednesday when she strayed.
The pup was only spotted after mountain rescue teams deployed drones with infrared cameras – which were able to detect the terrified pooch’s body heat in the natural cave set in a sheer limestone cliff.
A rope system was set up and team member Toby Green dismounted to retrieve Figgy from the base of the cliff.
He said the Sprocker Spaniel was so “fidgety” that he had to carry her up the rock face in his backpack.
A rope system was set up and team member Toby Green dismounted to retrieve Figgy from the base of the cliff. He said the Sprocker Spaniel was so “fidgety” that he had to carry her up the rock face in his backpack
Miraculously, the courageous dog was largely unharmed after her ordeal – with the exception of a few broken ribs. Toby said he was “shocked” that she survived the fall.
He told the BBC: “Unbelievable, she didn’t have a scratch, I was amazed.
“She growled at me a little because she was so scared, but after a few smacks she seemed happier.
“I wanted to try and carry her down in my arms but she was too fidgety so I put her in my backpack.”
Video of the rescue released by the Derby Mountain Rescue Team shows the emotional moment the tearful owner was reunited with her beloved pet.
At the foot of the craggy cliff, Figgy’s owner Kayley, from Woodville in Derbyshire, along with her other dog, had been searching desperately for Figgy but had been unable to find her.
While looking around at the cave’s second entrance – known as the “West Window” – she sustained multiple injuries.
Paramedics determined that she had fractured a finger, but she was released by the crew to find her own way for further treatment.
Along with her other dog, Figgy’s owner Kayley Williams, from Woodville in Derbyshire, had been searching desperately for Figgy at the foot of the craggy cliff but could not find her. Pictured: The emotional moment Kayley was reunited with her beloved pet
And the Derby Mountain Rescue Team was dispatched to the crime scene to search for Figgy, who is still missing.
Kayley asked a friend for help and called emergency services, who sent an ambulance to examine her.
She told the BBC she had lost all hope of finding Figgy alive.
Kayley said: “I had almost no hope. I mentally considered what to do with the ashes.
“When they said they found a heat source, I assumed it was her body and hoped it would at least be in one piece. But then they showed her to me on camera and she lived.
“Even then I thought she might be paralyzed or injured so badly that she needed to be put down.
“When Figgy was let out of the bag I made a noise I don’t think I can describe. It was amazing, I was just so happy and I was so satisfied, she gave the whole team a kiss, they were amazing.
The team looked around Thor’s cave and descended on ropes to search some ledges and ledges, but couldn’t find them.
The team looked around Thor’s cave and descended on ropes to search some ledges and ledges, but couldn’t find them. They resorted to the use of drones, which used infrared cameras to locate the bitch’s body heat and used a camera to positively identify her
They resorted to the use of drones, which used infrared cameras to locate the bitch’s body heat and used a camera to positively identify her.
The mountain rescue was dispatched at 1:30 p.m. – just five hours later.
A spokesman for Derby Mountain Rescue Team said: “The team was called at 8am on Wednesday 19 April to report that a woman and her dog had fallen over the cliff above Thor’s cave. (Although it turned out that only the dog had fallen)
“A lady was walking her two dogs when one of the dogs, ‘Fig’, fell off the ledge over Thor’s cave at around 6:30am.
“Sometime during the search around the base of Thor’s cave, out the infamous ‘West Window’ and around the path to the river, the lady had sustained multiple injuries. She called her friend for help and called 999.
“The lady was examined by paramedics and believed to have fractured her finger, but was released by the ambulance crew to seek further treatment on her own.
“Meanwhile, Figgy was still missing and the team searched around Thor’s cave, descending on ropes to search some outcrops/ledges.
“With nothing found, the team deployed our drone (a DJI M30T), which was able to locate the dog’s body heat with the drone’s infrared camera and positively identify it with a 160x zoom RGB camera.
“A rope system was set up and one of the team dismounted to retrieve Figgy and reunite her with her owner.
“We’re delighted to report that despite an extremely big fall, Fig appears to have escaped unscathed and of course she’s gotten lots of cuddles from the team too!”