Dog stuck on cliff fetches a dramatic rescue effort

It was a little more dramatic than a typical cat-in-the-tree rescue Thursday in the Mon Valley.

About a dozen Glassport and Clairton firefighters responded to a mid-morning report of a dog trapped on a cliff ledge about 200 feet above Lincoln Boulevard.

There they found Sid, a 7-year-old, 50-pound white chow missing since Monday morning when he broke his leash outside his new Washington Boulevard home in Glassport, a couple of miles from the cliff.

"He had a nice view over there," mused Tara Dobos, a neighbor of Sid's owners, Patricia Wilson and Gordon Van Kirk, who recently moved from McKeesport. They had placed ads for their missing dog and were getting ready to post signs in the area.

Lincoln police Chief Ted Hazard said a passing motorist reported seeing a dog on the cliff about 9:45 a.m. yesterday.

"At first, I thought somebody was pulling my leg," Hazard said. "Then I saw him up there. That ledge was only a couple of feet. He must have been caught up there on his leash. It was like looking off a bridge."

After determining that their 150-foot ladder truck would not reach the dog, Glassport volunteer firefighters contacted Clairton's rescue squad.

Off-duty emergency medical technician Greg Huschak and Glassport volunteer firefighter Dave Oberle rappelled over the top of the hillside to reach Sid, who apparently had tumbled about 40 feet to the ledge.

Huschak was familiar with the area where the dog was stranded because that's where his rope rescue team trained about 10 years ago.

"I was just going to pick him off and take him down over the hill, but he started growling at me," Huschak said. "I think he was more scared than anything."

Instead, Huschak and Oberle took Sid to the top of the bluff and let him walk down a deer trail to his waiting owners shortly before noon.

Glassport police Chief Tim Kifer made the initial rescue attempt and has the scratches and scrapes to show for it, saying it was "all briars." In fact, Sid had to have his fur shaved to remove all the burrs and brambles he picked up during his adventure.

"They took him to the veterinarian and found out that he was fine, other than being dehydrated -- he just needed fluid and food," Dobos said.