Dog News

Afraid of Heights? DOT Workers Rescue Dog Trapped on Rock Wall

by Amy Drew

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The job site where Hat Trick was rescued. Photo: Minnesota DOT
The job site where Hat Trick was rescued. Photo: Minnesota DOT

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Golden retrievers are known for many things, but their mountaineering skills is not generally one of them. Hat Trick, however, may get someone to change the breed standard.

This 12-year-old pup had Minnesota Department of Transportation workers scrambling to her rescue when they found her perched precariously on a rock wall on a bridge construction site near the town of Virginia last week.

It’s where workers are amid building a 1,100-foot-long, 250-foot-high bridge that will span a gap above the abandonded Rouchleau Pit. It’s part of a project that will allow for the expansion of a nearby mine.

Photo: Minnesota DOT
Photo: Minnesota DOT

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The dog had apparently made most of her way — impressively, we might add — down a craggy, sheer rock wall before finding herself hemmed in by a safety net used to protect workers from falling rocks. At first, crew members thought the falling rocks they’d observed were due to foxes (something that’s happened in the past; they seem to make their way up and down the wall without issue), but once Hat Trick was spotted, a rescue got under way.

Coaxing didn’t work, so one of the workers went up in a lift to get her, according to a Facebook post.

Photo: Minnesota DOT
Photo: Minnesota DOT

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“The pup reportedly jumped right into the basket and was an obedient guest, sitting nicely the whole way down,” it read. “The worker even brought an extra safety harness to clip the dog in the basket for extra security.”

Once back on terra firma, workers soothed her with water and love. Hat Trick was wearing a collar with tags, so her owners were reached without incident; the family was reunited in about a half hour.

Photo: Minnesota DOT
Photo: Minnesota DOT

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Not surprisingly, they are big hockey fans. We hope that Hat Trick doesn’t try to go for two more precipitous climbs!