When Gracie plunged 200 feet over a cliff in Oregon on Sunday, her stunned owner believed she was certainly dead. She and her friends and family were holding a memorial on the trail when a hiker told them that Gracie was alive!
Michelle Simmons was hiking near Punchbowl Falls along the Columbia River Gorge with her kids, friends, and Labradoodle Gracie on Sunday. Gracie was romping about with another dog and toppled over the edge of the cliff.
“We were just hysterically crying. We were all just devastated,” Simmons said. “We thought we’d all just witnessed the worst thing: your dog falling off a cliff.”
Gracie fell 200 feet, presumably to her tragic demise.
“We heard her land and let out this yelp. Then we didn’t hear anything after that.”
No one would guess she could survive such a steep plummet. Further down the trail, Simmons and her loved ones held an impromptu memorial service for their fallen friend.
While they were grieving, they were interrupted by another hiker with an inconceivable declaration.
“He says, ‘I saw your dog. I saw your dog. Your dog is alive. I saw it on the ledge,’” Simmons proclaimed.
Four hours later, the Technical Animal Rescue Team with the Oregon Humane Society rescue team found Gracie and started work on getting her harnessed and lifted back up.
“When the rescuer got down to the bottom he radioed up and said she’s walking. She’s running. We heard her barking. I couldn’t believe it,” Simmons said.
Even more remarkably, Gracie survived without even a single broken bone.
“She just got a little pop on her lip. She got like two or three staples. We’re just saying it’s a miracle.”
Simmons will certainly exercise far more caution when taking Gracie out for adventures.
Awesome for Gracie, but how could they not go after her?? Just assume she’s dead? What if she was down there badly injured, scared and hurting? Geez…
I’m glad it was a happy ending. I cannot imagine doing anything other than finding my dog immediately. That said, everyone has their own way of dealing with things.
You didn’t find a way to check for sure or retrieve the body???
I want to be all warm and happy for the outcome, but I’m pretty sure most dog owners would do anything they could to find their canine family member. I feel bad for that pooch. She would have starved to death if not for that hiker….
I would do what I had to to go down and check before assuming….
I totally agree with Chris
She must have been off leash. That was the first mistake by the owner. The dog was lucky to survive.