A dog has been reunited with his family one week after he was reported missing. “Toby” was last seen Aug. 7 at Spring Lake near Hythe, about 500 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
On Wednesday 100 kilometres away, some County of Grande Prairie firefighters responding to a call on the Red Willow River noticed a dog stuck high up on a ledge.
Officials say they assembled a rescue team with help from two other nearby fire departments and trekked to the remote location.
"It's pretty overwhelming," said Toby's owner Craig Rigler. "Just unbelievable ... I'm speechless."
"I had given up on him on Tuesday, I said he’s gotta be dead, something had to have killed him or he would’ve been noticed."
The rescuers rigged some ropes and scaled the side of the steep bank and then secured the stranded dog. He was then lowered 80 feet to a waiting boat and brought to shore.
County officials were able to reunite Toby with his owners who had reported him missing on Facebook.
Rigler figures Toby was being stalked by a prey animal and fled down the river bank in an effort to escape.
"There's no way he could come back up or go down. He was trapped on that little ledge."
Firefighters believe he survived his ordeal by drinking water from a small puddle.
Next week, Riglar plans to take Toby around to all of the fire departments in the area to thank them in person.
“An amazing way miracles work sometimes.”
