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Dog rescued after being trapped on cliff for nine days

A lucky dog has been rescued after spending nine days stranded without food or water on a cliff in Devon. Springer Spaniel Sprig spent over a week stuck on a rocky ledge at the foot of the highest cliffs in England.

And it was only by chance that he was spotted by Minehead’s volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew while they were on an exercise close to Foreland Point in north Devon. The crew steered their boat closer to the cliffs after spotting a sheep that they believed was trapped. As they turned their vessel away they spotted another flash of movement some way below the animal.

Helmsman Andrew Escott comments: “We went in as close as we could then we could see it was a dog. It was about 30 feet above the water and we couldn’t work out how it had got in that position”.

Andrew managed to jump ashore and climb up to Sprig. Minehead’s D-class boat – designed for working close inshore – was then called in so the dog could be lowered down safely. Andrew adds: “He had clearly been there for some time because he was licking water off my dry suit. And he did seem rather pleased to see us”.

Sprig was taken back to the Minehead lifeboat station and was given water and food. Here it emerged that he had been the subject of a major search by his owner Mark and Susie Sanders from Wheddon Cross. They had desperately been searching for Sprig since he went missing during a walk at Foreland Point on 22nd August. They had plastered the area with posters and had also appealed for local fishing boats to keep an eye out for him. The couple were overjoyed to be reunited with their beloved pet, who is now back at home safe and sound and apparently unharmed by his ordeal.