Pepper – Dog Fallen Down a Steep Hillside

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Late in the afternoon on February 26, WASART received a call about a dog named Pepper who had fallen down a steep hillside near Mud Mountain. Our Technical Rescue Team and equipment truck deployed to the scene.

Upon arriving at the trailhead, we grabbed our rescue gear and hiked about 20 minutes to Pepper’s location. We found her approximately 60 feet down a steep, loose hillside with a vertical drop below her. As more WASART team members arrived, additional technical rescue equipment was brought in, including lighting as darkness was quickly approaching. We set up a twin tension rope system to safely reach her.

One of our rescuers was lowered down the slope as the attendant, carefully navigating unstable terrain and clearing branches along the way while talking to Pepper to help keep her calm.
About three feet above Pepper, the attendant worked through some branches and a slightly undercut section of the slope before finally reaching her. As soon as they did, Pepper crawled over with her tail wagging. When the rescuer said, “Okay Pep — ready to get out of here?” she licked their hand and climbed right into their lap.

Pepper was secured in a lift harness and attached to the rope system with the attendant. With Pepper’s black coat, the attendant’s black pants, and a black harness — all in the dark — getting everything secured took a little extra care. But Pepper was a great sport the entire time, calmly trusting the team to get her safely back to the top. Once she was safely secured, we began slowly raising both Pepper and the attendant back to the top while carefully navigating branches, loose ground, and shrubs along the way.

Throughout the entire operation, Pepper remained calm and trusting, relying on us to bring her safely back to her family.

Once back at the top, Pepper was happily reunited with her family—with plenty of tail wags. We then packed up all of our gear and hiked out together with Pepper.

Rescues like this are why we do what we do. It’s why we train, why we deploy, and why we dedicate so many hours preparing for these calls. Helping animals and their owners in times of emergency is at the heart of WASART’s mission.

WASART is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization. There is never a charge for our rescues. For more information about us or to make a donation, please visit wasart.org.