After surviving a near-death experience, this lucky dog is back in his relieved owners' arms, thanks to one rescue crew.
Last month, Mark and Susie Sanders of Somerset, United Kingdom, took their two dogs out for a walk along a cliff at Foreland Point in Devon, according to the Western Daily Press. After stopping to admire a view, the couple called out to the pups, and only one of them came back. The other, a springer spaniel named Sprig, was nowhere to be found.
Eight days later, members of a volunteer lifeboat crew -- the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) -- found the pup at the bottom of the 1,000-ft. cliff. Sprig was clinging to a ledge 30 ft. above the water. The crew successfully brought him to safety.
According to the Western Daily Press, his owners had previously organized search parties to look for the animal.
"I just could not believe it when we had a call to say the lifeboat crew had spotted him and rescued him," Susie said, according to the London Evening Standard. "It's amazing: the best news ever. Bless them."
The lifeboat crew were on a training exercise when they spotted the pooch from afar, first believing it was a sheep trapped on the ledge, BBC News reported. The dog survived a week without food or water by lapping up the moisture from the surrounding moss and rocks, according to the Evening Standard.
When rescuers approached him, Sprig appeared to be unharmed and happy to be rescued after clutching the rock for so long. It is unclear how the pup got on the ledge from the top of the cliff.
"He had clearly been there for some time because he was licking water off my dry suit. And he did seem rather pleased to see us," said Andrew Escott, a member of the rescue crew, according to the Evening Standard.
Sprig was reunited with his owners a few hours after being rescued in good condition but a bit thinner, the outlet reported.
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