The McInnes family’s dog is named Toby, but Lucky may have been more apt.
The one-year-old English sheepdog/poodle mix is doing well after plummeting 150 feet off a cliff, then tumbling another 150 down a mountainside as his family was riding trails at Gooseberry Mesa, a location west of Zion National Park.
Though Toby suffered injuries to his head and eyes, the St. George veterinarian who treated him said she was amazed by his survival, noting that she’d lost patients following far-less-severe falls.
Toby’s owners, who hail from Eagle Mountain, told Salt Lake City’s KSL-TV they think he may have seen something that prompted the fateful leap. Washington County Search & Rescue, which doesn’t always respond to pet-related incidents, chose to help; one team member, Mike Thomas, carried Toby – all 75 pounds of him – up a steep incline to safety.
The family credits the first responders with their beloved dog’s survival.
