Dog well after rescue from deep cave
Published: November 18, 2005
Persistence, and a strong will to live, paid off for Buck, a lucky dog found trapped Monday in a deep cave on private property near the Cades Cove area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
According to Nancy Gray, Park spokeswoman, it was Buck’s persistent barking that attracted the attention of campers Monday at backcountry campsite 4 off the Ace Gap Trail in Blount County. Upon investigation, the campers discovered a 30-by-40-foot deep cave about 300 yards from their campsite.
In an attempt to rescue the dog, the campers contacted a local builder working on a nearby residence. The builder attached a rope to a seat harness to get close enough to the edge of the 40-foot deep cave to see the dog, but he was unable to reach it.
The builder contacted the Park Monday night, and although four Park Rangers went to the site that evening, they could hear no sound from the dog.
Nevertheless, rangers returned to the cave Tuesday morning and Ranger Rick Brown rappelled into it. Reaching the bottom of the cave, Brown found no dog, but did discover a very small opening into another 30-foot deep chamber.
Using a flashlight, Brown saw the dog lying at the bottom of the second hole, and when he called to it, the dog stood up. Since the dog appeared to be in good condition, Brown rappelled down into the second chamber.
Brown then fashioned a harness for the dog, and, holding the dog in his arms, both were pulled out of the hole by the other three rangers.
“Aside from being emaciated, exhausted, and sore, the dog appeared to be in pretty good shape,” said Brown.
A radio collar and identification tag on the dog helped rangers to locate its owner, Bryan Hepperly of Townsend.
Hepperly said he lost the signal from Buck’s collar while hunting Oct. 29, and had been looking for him since.
“A friend of mine had a dog that fell into that cave a couple years ago and died. I live in that area, but I didn’t look there because I thought I would be able to pick up the signal from his collar if he was there - now I know better. The signal won’t come up out of that hole,” said Hepperly.
Hepperly said Buck has no broken bones, but he was starving and very weak, so he was kept overnight by a veterinarian and is expected to be back home today.
“A Park ranger’s rescue of a dog is uncommon,” said Gray. “Although hunters’ dogs often wander into the park, more often our rangers are called to help rescue horses that slip off banks or trails. We are pleased to be able to help in this rescue even though this was not on the Park property,” Gray continued.
Hepperly added, “I really appreciate the Park rangers’ help in getting my dog back.”
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
If you like this, you'll love Good Animal News:
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: