Cats are the ones who are supposed to have nine lives; however, a sturdy Texas dog is determined to give virtually indestructible felines across the land a run for their money.
The pooch called Stout proved himself more than worthy of that name after “miraculously” surviving a horrific 70-ft fall off a cliff Thursday in the Lone Star State.
Paramedic Bob Luddy learned of what seemed a near-certain canine calamity while eating lunch ahead of a rope training session with colleagues at the Pennybacker Bridge overlook in Austin, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services said on Facebook.
Hearing shouts for help, Luddy sprang into action to discover that a dog had taken an alarming tumble off a nearby cliff.
“I grabbed my med bag and ropes, and started running towards the scene,” Luddy said. “I got to the top of the cliff and found the owner, who had been calling to his dog franticly with no response.”
“After the owner identified where the dog had fallen from, Capt. Luddy rigged an anchor strap to a tree, attached a rappel line and safety line to the anchor, and rappelled down the cliff face,” the agency said.
The paramedic assumed he wouldn’t find the dog alive; but after a short search at the bottom he located Stout, who was “miraculously, mostly unharmed,” according to the agency.
“He must have fallen about 70 feet, and hit a few branches and bushes on the way down,” Luddy said. “I was ecstatic to find him in such good condition.”
After a happy reunion with his owner, Stout got checked out by an emergency vet.
The emergency medical service described the pet’s death-defying drop as a “scary story with a happy, feel good ending.”