A rod and a sausage finally brought the rescue: after five days in a crevice in Minnewaska State Park north of New York, animal rights activists were able to free the dog Liza on Tuesday.
Last Thursday, the animal slipped into the almost 15-meter-deep crevice during a hike with its owner through the nature reserve.
As the park administration reported, several rangers immediately tried to pull Liza out again.
When rescue attempts were unsuccessful for days, the New Jersey Initial Response Team, a cave rescue task force, and members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) made their way to the park.
Rescue with the help of a sausage
With a pipe camera, the rescuers checked on Tuesday whether the twelve-year-old bitch was still alive.
Then Jessica Van Ord, a particularly petite rescuer, roped down into the crevice, lured Liza to the rod with the help of a sausage and put the dog in a backpack.
Liza is said to have survived the time underground unexpectedly well.
The water she licked off the rock walls kept her alive.