Rescue efforts to save a dog who fell down a mountain hole on Sunday have been abandoned. Rescuers were attempting to reach Tilly, a West Highland Terrier, who tumbled into a mountain fissure beneath Mynydd James Mountain, near Blaina.
On Tuesday, the rescue team from South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue recounted the effort to reach Tilly:
An initial 6m recce down the rift resulted in the haul point being moved 18” to a slightly wider point in the rift. This allowed our small brave team member to reach the bottom of the 8 m rift, but in a very tight slot, unable to turn or bend. Tilly was very close by, but for whatever reason was unable to get out onto the rift floor. She was encouraged verbally, with dog food and with a hooked pole.
Adding the final words which sealed the trapped dog’s fate:
After an extended effort of 20 mins, the tough decision, that there was nothing more we could do, had to be made. Many of the team are dog owners and dog lovers and the decision to end the operation was not taken lightly.
Chairman Gary Mitchell explained why the decision to abandoned the search effort was made to BBC News:
“With solid rock either side, the risk of trying to widen the hole would result in significant amounts of debris falling down on her. This is one of the very few incidents in our 70 years of existence that the outcome is not what we would have hoped for.”
According to a social media post, presumably by Tilly’s owner, the dog is deceased – the post, in part, reads:
Dear comrades.It is with deep regret and remorse to tell you that Tilly has passed away. She died during a most courageous and brave attempt by South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team to recover her from the bottom of the shaft crevice on Mynydd James.
(Screenshot via Facebook)
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OMG!!!!!! Don’t know if I agree with this decision! The story doesn’t give a whole lot of info about why there isn’t a chance to rescue this poor dog,this is a small breed and it’s probably injured and suffering…..very upsetting to say the least. Wish I didn’t even read this post
There is a link to the Facebook page of the would be rescuers. More info there.
Thank you!
Thank you I did that yesterday!
I can’t imagine the grief that Tilly’s owners are feeling right now. I honestly don’t know how I would cope if she was my dog, knowing that if she’s still alive, she will suffer from dehydration and starvation before she dies. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and to the rescue team who tried to save Tilly as I’m sure they are dejected after the decision was made to discontinue the rescue efforts.
Maybe you should go on the rescue organization’s website and see the grateful post from the owner who has said the dog is dead.
This is horrifying, if she is dead I hope she died quickly so as not to suffer. If she is still alive down there, they should try to euthanize her with a poisonous gas down the hole so she doesn’t suffer and starve to death. I hope the owners keep their next animal on a leash so this doesn’t happen again or at least put a barrier over the hole so nothing else can fall down there.
I agree about the leash. I mentioned that on the Facebook page. Thank you for saying that.
I also thought about a gas being thrown down there so as not to have her suffer..not only of starvation and dehydration, but, loneliness.
I pray that the dog is rescued or at least they know that he is gone. Some resolution would be good for those who tried as well as the dog possibly suffering more. Not knowing is the worst in situations like this. Maybe this dog is hungry enough to take the food and be rescued. Hope and pray he gets out.
Tears and prayers.
This is heartbreaking please don’t give up
Don’t give up? What do you expect to happen now?
Not sure who or where her owner is, but know that I could never surrender and would continue effort to encourage her to exit…
Please try again if dog won’t come to you or can’t what about an extension pole when close with noose
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PEOPLE?!? 20 min and they give up ???? For God sake GET YOUR ASSES BACK THERE AND FIND A WAY TO RESCUE THAT POOR DOG ????????????????????
You are a moron. They spent 9 hours on this rescue. A person was wedged in a 10 inch space deep in the rock for 20 min trying to get to the dog who was not responsive. They did all they could and they believe the dog is already dead.
My heart breaks for this poor little defenseless dog – sorry, to give up is not an option – Tilly deserves to be saved – I will never understand HOW people could just walk away and leave her to die. DON’T GIVE UP – KEEP TRYING!
So you are just going to walk away??? What if it was YOU down there??? REALLY???
What if that was a child that fell down there? Would you give up after 20 minutes? Hell no! To the owners, that is their child and you’re just going to leave her there to die!? That is so wrong!
They need to go back and try something else! Twenty minutes is a ridiculous amount of time !
Did I read that directly, 20 minutes? That’s all? Um, I’m going to be there until my dog is saved or passes…and I’m going to make sure either is done as painlessly as possible.
They should have killed the dog if rescue efforts did not work instead of leaving the dog to suffer this article turned my stomach shame on these worthless rescuers bonnie in pa USA. I do believe that someone could have saved this dog
All of you who sit in your comfy homes and criticize should do your due diligence. This article only gives a few details and not the entire story. Go on the organizations facebook page and read the details. They spent 9 hours trying to reach the dog. A rescuer spent 20 minutes wedged in a 10 inch crevasse trying to reach the dog who was not responsive. They did all they could. Shame on all of you. And shame on this site for not giving the entire story and stirring up this nonsense with a misleading headline.
Ann,Tilly was responsive,she just refused an offer re dog food.These lazy cretins walked away and left Tilly to die.I am involved in animal welfare/rescue and this would not have happened if I had been there.
I am disgusted that these so called rescue morons just discontinued their rescue efforts and let Tilly die a slow and suffering death.This is disgusting.If I had been there I would not have allowed the rescue effort to be abandoned.