Authorities are reminding visitors to George Washington National Forest to keep their dogs on a leash after a dog fell over Crabtree Falls and had to be rescued in late November.
Mike Riddle, deputy chief of Wintergreen Fire & Rescue, said such incidents are becoming more frequent. Lately, Riddle said, his fire department has been responding to more animal emergencies at Crabtree Falls than human emergencies.
“What the problem is they’ll take them off leash, or the humans will go across the fence and go past the signs where it says don’t cross here or don’t get off the trail,” Riddle told the Nelson County Times.
Riddle said the station got the call around 9:30 a.m. Nov. 23 that a service dog named Winnie had fallen down Crabtree Falls and was missing.
“The owner had done a little bit of searching prior to us getting there and was unsuccessful in finding it," he recounted. "We went up there for probably several hours and were looking around, trying to find it as well, and we were unsuccessful the first time. I hung around, because it’s a dog and I didn’t really want to give up on it."
Riddle said he’s a dog person with some of his own. He didn’t want to give up the search. He said he was even willing to camp out if the dog didn’t turn up before dark.
Eventually, hikers in the area were able to spot Winnie and called the station.
“The dog was well trained being a service dog, so the owner was able to coach it to stay put while we got the dog using a rope system,” Riddle said.
Winnie was then returned to the loving arms of her owner, Cara Marshall, with only minor injuries.
Marshall thanked Wintergreen Fire & Rescue, and acknowledged her lapse in judgment, in a Facebook post.
“They had realized that that moment of lapse in judgment, of allowing the dog off leash was just enough. It only took a second for the dog to fall and to fall at least 30 or 40 feet,” Riddle said.
Riddle said Winnie’s fate could have been much worse. He urged park visitors to be mindful and keep their dogs on leashes while hiking in the national forest or any other park.
“Just keep them on a leash,” Riddle said. “That’s the big takeaway. And, you know, I’m guilty myself of allowing my dog off leash, but I’m also very selective in where I do that, and certainly not in any place with a hazardous area.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com