A resilient pup was rescued from a Virginia cave last weekend after she was found trapped 50 feet below the surface. The dog was discovered by a group of cavers who belayed down into the darkness, expecting to explore an empty cave. Instead, they were greeted by a skinny and injured dog.
Over the next three hours, Dave Jackson and Jesse Rochette spent time gaining the pup’s trust and fashioning a makeshift harness to haul her out. The rescued dog has been affectionately named SPAR-C, pronounced Sparsy, which stands for Small Party Assisted Rescue-Canine, and she is being treated and cared for at the Giles County Animal Shelter. Shelter workers says her recovery is going well but they are still looking for her owners.
The rescue Jackson and Rochette are professional cavers from Colorado who educate schoolchildren about cave safety through the organization CaveSim. They were visiting Virginia as part of their educational work, when they decided to explore the Giant Caverns in Giles County with a local couple. Story continues below advertisement The first member of their party started down into the funnel-shaped cave and was surprised to find a dog in the depths.
“He said, ‘Whoa! There’s a dog down here!’” Rochette told the Associated Press . “And I asked if it was alive and he said ‘Yes!’” A self-described “dog-guy,” Rochette repelled down next with a piece of salami. “She instantly came over and sucked up the salami and she loved that,” Rochette sai.