A seven month old pup has survived being lost and trapped in Mourne country for nine days as her owners, friends and strangers searched for her without success.
Used to the comforts of her North Belfast home, Nova the German Shepherd, had little experience of wild living, but incredibly she survived and today is home sleeping off the effects of her traumatic experience.
It was thanks to an adventurous photographer that she was spotted and the alarm raised and the NIFRS for bringing her to safety from a cave on a waterfall in Tollymore Forest Park.
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Nova’s owners Georgia Cope and Sam Vaughan, both 27, had spent days searching for Nova after she slipped into the undergrowth on December 27, 2022 during a post Christmas family walk.
Playing with her older pal, Huan, eight, the big pup got lost and could not find her way back to familiar ground.
Georgia, a Civil Engineer, said: “I was driving from Manchester to Devon when she got lost and as soon as I walked through the door I got a phone call to say what had happened. Sam and I were frantic. Nova is big but she’s still a pup and is only just about to turn eight months old.
“We searched for days but the area was so vast and the weather so bad, that we felt sure she must have died. So many people had contacted us and the rangers to say they were out looking for her, including one lady who said she had coronavirus > Covid but she’d sent her husband out. We could hardly bear the hope and then with no sightings, it quickly faded.
“We initially worried that someone had taken her because she’s so friendly, then we worried that she was out there suffering on her own, wondering why we had left her. It was awful. We felt tortured. Eventually we tried to settle ourselves that it was over and accept that we’d never get her home.
“But just as we were grieving for Nova, suddenly on day nine, Sam called to say his mum Joan had received a message from a Ranger on the Mournes to say they thought that Nova had been spotted.
“A photographer had been hiking to get a picture in an area near a waterfall off the normal walking paths and he and Nova had seen each other. He said they stopped and looked at each other for a moment and then Nova then started barking. The photographer contacted the Ranger service and reported seeing this young black German Shepherd, and of course the Rangers knew Nova was missing.
“They pinpointed the area and knew there was no way anyone could just walk in and get her because she was in a cave above a river at a waterfall. So they called the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and a whole team turned up for our girl.
“I just dropped everything yesterday and drove to Tollymore and made my way to the spot to find the rescue was just about to happen. I could hardly believe it. There she was. Skinny and dirty but alive and her tail wagging like crazy.
“The NIFRS were incredible and so gentle with her. She was stuck in an awkward spot to access and I think what had happened is that she had fallen down the waterfall and just couldn’t make her way out. She was already a bit fearful of water so it wasn’t the best scenario for her.
“But the team worked to reach her, secured her and brought her to safety. It was such an incredible feeling to have been grieving for the loss of our puppy for days and suddenly find her in my arms.
“To be honest we are still very shocked. She is exhausted and very hungry and in need of a good bath. But she doesn’t want to be washed and she is eating all the food I give her in small portions throughout the day. She has a few very small cuts on her and her weight has dropped considerably, but otherwise she seems fine if very clingy. Her tail is still wagging so she is happy, happy to be home and beside us once again.
“It will take a little time to build her strength back up. She wants to play but she’s too weak yet so she is pushing her toys about. But it will come after some good sleeps. “We feel so lucky to have her home. Nova won’t be going for long walks for a while because right now she’s hardly able to walk. So she will be pottering until she builds up her strength and she is banned from off-lead walks with Huan any time soon.
“Sam and I just want to thank every single person who helped us from Sam’s mum Joan to the photographer who spotted her, the Rangers, the fire and rescue team and all the friends and members of the public who literally went into the woods to search for a stranger’s dog.
“We are so grateful and we will never forget everyone’s kindness. Nova has her vet check tonight and after that, while we remember the goodness of people, we will do everything we can to help her forget the trauma of nine days alone in the forest.”
A spokesperson for the NIFRS said: “We were called to rescue an eight-month-old puppy that had been missing for a week. The dog was trapped in a cave by the river. NIFRS Specialist Rescue Team used a sled and reach poles to rescue the dog. The incident was dealt with by 1.41pm on January 5, 2023.”
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