Dogs love to explore and sniff things out, and most of the time it’s not a problem.
We all work hard to keep our own pups out of trouble, but not every dog is fortunate enough to have such dedicated pup parents who can tempt them away from mischief with the promise of the best dog treats.
One such canine found themselves in a sticky situation earlier this month, but a group of cavers were able to save the day and ensure that she was rescued.
Dave Jackson and Jesse Rochette, from the educational cave simulator company CaveSim in Colorado, went to the town of Narrows in Virginia on July 7 to explore Giant Caverns with a local couple. However, the first of the group to head down into the cave was surprised to come across a dog.
Rochette, who describes himself as a “dog guy”, went down next, bringing a piece of salami with him. “She instantly came over and sucked up the salami and she loved that,” he told The Washington Times. As the dog was shivering, the group wrapped her up in space blankets, foam pads, and even the hood of an old jacket they discovered in the cave.
They then encouraged her to drink water from a bowl, with Rochette getting the pup to lick water from his fingers first.
Jackson said that, while he’d taken rescue training classes and had been involved in rescues previously, he’d never rescued an animal before. He explained that they always carry rescue gear with them just in case, and put together what they had, creating a makeshift harness and working out a way to haul the dog out, strapped to Rochette.
Altogether, it took around three hours.
Jackson continued, “As the two of us cleared the edge of the pit and made it to fresh air, she instantly perked up. She lifted her head up and started sniffing the air.”
As the owner of the property didn’t recognize the pup, they took her to a local vet, before she went to the Giles County Animal Shelter, who called her a “living miracle” in a Facebook post.
“Yesterday, we received a call about a dog who had fallen into a cave in Narrows,” the shelter wrote. “To be honest, we didn’t know what the next hours or even minutes would look like.”
Rochette visited her a few days later, and said that she was doing well and – of course – getting plenty of treats.
At first, they called the dog Cave Dog, but then gave her the name SPAR-C, an acronym for small party assisted rescue with an additional ‘C’ for ‘canine’.
SPAR-C, or Sparsy, as the shelter calls her, was relatively unharmed by her experience, with no broken bones. She was struggling to use her back legs without assistance, but has been making good progress.
Last week, the shelter made another Facebook post with a video of Sparsy. They wrote, “Sparsy is up and moving! Look at that tail go! She takes her medicine like a champ and eats like there’s no tomorrow. Her medical expenses have been covered thanks to our amazing community. We still haven’t found her owner. If her healing keeps progressing this quickly, she’ll be ready for a new home in no time!”
It looks as though Sparsy could be in high demand, but if you’re thinking of adopting a new pup – albeit probably one with a less dramatic back story – here are 32 reasons to adopt a dog.
