A 16-year-old dog has been reunited with her family after she fell down a 60-metre-deep ravine during a hike, and became trapped for 24 hours.
The dog, a Shih Tzu mix named Hak Mui, was on a hike in Tsing Ling Tau with her owners and her own daughter, a 15-year-old black and white dog named Panda, at around 12pm yesterday when she reportedly fell down the hillside, Apple Daily reports.
Police officers, firefighters and SPCA personnel all attempted to find Blackie to no avail. Firefighters abseiled down 30 metres of the valley but couldn’t hear the dog barking, and left at around 2pm.
At the time, Hak Mui’s owners, a couple surnamed Tse, said they just “hoped not to find her corpse”.
After emergency services called off their search yesterday, the Tses reported hearing faint barking at around 4pm. Using social media, the couple appealed to animal rights concern groups for help, and caught the attention of thousands of concerned, animal-loving netizens.
A group of six climbing experts who saw the Tse’s pleas for help volunteered to search for Hak Mui again today, and descended down the ravine as the Tses and Panda watched with trepidation.
The volunteers split into two groups and abseiled down the valley at around 10am, and eventually heard the dog barking in a gap between some rocks at noon, roughly 24 hours after her terrifying fall.
Hak Mui was retrieved without any serious injuries, but her vet said she is suffering from a bout of pneumonia due to spending the night outdoors, according to Hong Kong Animal Post.
She will reportedly spend three days in the veterinary hospital before returning home to her family.
The Tses thanked everyone who had shared their calls for help, calling Hak Mui’s return “a miracle”. Speaking to Hong Kong Animal Post, the grateful couple stressed that they would never give up on their family.
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