I love a happy ending :) - I felt ruff but I'm all right now: Dog cheats death twice during 80ft cliff fall into sea

A Jack Russell terrier cheated death twice, when he plunged 80ft into the sea from a cliff – and then was saved from drowning by a passing boat. The dog Bailey escaped injury by plunging into three feet of water after tumbling off the sheer cliff in Dorset. As he doggy-paddled in the sea a couple on board a yacht spotted him floundering. The man jumped in a dingy, rowed across to Bailey and plucked him to safety.


Lucky escape: Bailey the dog plunged 80ft into the sea after tumbling off a sheer cliff in Dorset

The wet dog was then passed back to relieved owners Sue and Geoff Matthews, who had waded into the sea in a bid to reach the drowning dog. Mr and Mrs Matthews were walking their dogs Bailey and Lucy at the beauty spot of Old Harry Rocks, near Swanage, Dorset, when Bailey fell. Mrs Matthews, a who teaches English at Bournemouth School for Girls, said: ‘As we walked along Bailey just suddenly disappeared towards a hedge.


Reunited: Geoff Matthews waded into the sea in Dorset to rescue dog Bailey

‘There was a gap in it and then a sheer drop behind it. I looked over the edge and couldn't even see Bailey. My husband rushed down to the beach while I grabbed hold of Lucy. ‘I walked down to the beach, all the way thinking 'this is it - he's dead.'

By the time she reached the bottom she realised Bailey had survived the drop - but was in danger of drowning in the sea. She said: ‘The couple in the boat got their dinghy out and the chap rowed over and picked him up. My husband had his best jeans and shoes on and was wading waist deep in water at the time. We were just so grateful to the couple in the boat.’

Bailey is one of several dogs that have fallen off the cliffs at Old Harry Rocks in recent months. But Mrs Matthews, from Poole, said: ‘I'm not one of those people who says it should be fenced off. I hate that type of health and safety that says you shouldn't do anything. People like me should be far more aware that the dog might have done this. I am a responsible dog owner but after it happened I did think how remiss I must have been in letting Bailey off his lead.'

Mrs Matthews, 61, added that Bailey was very lucky to be alive after the cliff fall. She said: 'He ran through a gap in the hedge and went right off the edge. He was very lucky that the tide was in at the time and he landed in water rather than on the rocks. We kept an eye on him the day after it happened but he was back to his normal self very quickly we didn't need to take him to the vets.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013532/I-felt-ruff-Im-right-Dog-cheats-death-twice-80ft-cliff-fall-sea.html#ixzz1RpaU4haw



WOW, one lucky dog

I thought it was supposed to b cats that had nine lives!!

MrDoodles wrote:I thought it was supposed to b cats that had nine lives!!

that true..but maybe dogs have 7 1/2