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.
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 said. Sparsy was shivering, so they wrapped her up in space blankets, foam pads and whatever else they could find, including the hood from an old jacket they found in the cave, he said. Next they got her to drink water by first getting her to lick water off his fingers, then lowering his hand until she was drinking from the bowl.
Jesse Rochette and Sparsy the dog at Giles County Animal Shelter after the resilient pup was rescued from the bottom of a 50-foot cave.
Facebook/Giles County Animal Shelter
Jackson said he had taken rescue training classes and participated in rescues before, but never a rescue involving an animal.
“We all carry a little rescue gear with us,” Jackson said, and they pooled what they had. The cavers improvised a dog harness from a tarp and webbing and rigged up a system to haul out the dog strapped to Rochette.
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It’s unclear how long Sparsy was in the cave but she was certainly glad to be out.
“As the two of us cleared the edge of the pit and made it to fresh air, she instantly perked up,” Rochette said. “She lifted her head up and started sniffing the air.”
While he had never rescued an animal from a cave, Rochette said other cavers he has spoken to have told him of other rescues. The cave they were in Sunday was littered with animal skulls and bones, Rochette said.
“It felt nice that the cave didn’t get to keep another one,” he said.
The recovery
The cavers took Sparsy to a nearby veterinary hospital and then she was taken to the Giles County Animal Shelter.
After running numerous medical tests and X-rays, Sparsy was “miraculously” found to have no broken bones, the shelter wrote on its Facebook page.
“She has Lyme Disease, some inflammation in her spine, and cannot use her back legs too well without assistance. With a good dose of pain medication, antibiotics, rest and good nutrition, we expect her to be up and moving in a couple days,” the shelter wrote Monday.
Rochette went back to visit Sparsy on Monday and the shelter posted pictures of their adorable reunion.
Community donations have flooded in to help cover the cost of Sparsy’s medical bills, already over US$1,200 have been raised.
“She is an expensive little lady!” the shelter writes on its fundraising page. “Sparsy has now been seen by two vets and racked up a hefty vet bill, but she is SAFE, WARM and already perking up, and that is what matters.”
In a video posted Wednesday, Sparsy is seen back on her feet and wagging her tail.
“Sparsy is UP AND MOVING! Look at that tail go!” the shelter writes. “She takes her medicine like a champ and eats like there’s no tomorrow.”
Unfortunately, no one has yet come forward to claim Sparsy as their dog but the shelter is committed to finding her a new home if her family doesn’t turn up.
“If her healing keeps progressing this quickly, she’ll be ready for a new home in no time.”
— with files from The Associated Press
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