When Wes McGuirk called firefighters in Louisville to ask them to come help get his dog out of a tree, the dispatchers thought someone was messing with them. That’s because Wes’ dog, Kora, is a 120-pound Great Dane.
Wes came home to find Kora stuck 20 feet up in a large tree in the backyard. His first thought was “how on earth did you get up there?” His second thought was, “how am I going to get you down?” He tried to reach her with his ladder, but it fell short so he called for help.
Photo credit: Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department
“While we were responding, we were admittedly somewhat skeptical,” said firefighters with Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department. “Upon arrival, sure enough, there she was. A 120 pound Great Dane about 20 feet up in the tree.”
They soon realized they had a challenge on their hands. Assisted by Elmwood Volunteer Fire and Rescue, they first tried to use a leash and harness to secure her and bring her down, but they also held a tarp below the tree in case she fell.
And that’s what ended up happening. Kora fell gently into the tarp they were holding and quickly bounced back up and was back on her feet without a scratch!
Photo credit: Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department
This was definitely not your typical “cat stuck in a tree”. No wonder the firefighters say that it’s one of those calls that they’re going to talk about for a long time.
And here’s the full video of Kora the moment she falls from the tree into her rescuers’ “arms”!
Tonight, as we were covering the Louisville district, we received a call that was far from typical. We were advised that a dog was stuck about 20 feet up in a tree. Additional information was that the dog was a Great Dane that was about 120 pounds. While we were responding, we were admittedly somewhat skeptical. Upon arrival, sure enough, there she was. A 120 pound Great Dane about 20 feet up in the tree. After some quick game planning, and assistance from the Sheriff's Office K-9 Handler, we put our plan into action. The initial plan was to get a harness on the dog and see if he would follow a friend of the owner back down the tree. That didn't work to well. The next plan was to attach a long leash to the harness and lower the dog to the ground. During both plans, we had members on the ground holding a tarp to catch the dog if she would have fallen. As you can see in the video, the second option worked well enough to get her out of the tree unharmed. Big thanks to Elmwood Rescue, Cass County Sheriffs Deputies and the homeowners. This is one of those calls that had a great outcome and will not soon be forgotten.
Posted by Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday, April 9, 2016
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