Some rescues involve fire trucks and floods. This one involved a fire truck, a rope, and a firefighter with his pockets full of goat treats.
Her name is Aphrodite, she is a tiny Nigerian dwarf goat, and she had a very bad Sunday night on the side of a cliff in British Columbia.
A Little Goat on a Big Cliff
Aphrodite lives on a farm on LaBonne Road in Metchosin, a rural community on Vancouver Island near Matheson Lake.
One evening in early October, the adventurous little goat went over the edge of a cliff near her farm, according to the Victoria Times Colonist. The whole cliff side is about 18 metres high. Luckily, she landed on a ledge only about three metres below the top.
Lucky, but stuck. She couldn’t climb back up on her own, so she spent a long, lonely night out there on the ledge.
A Call for Help
The next morning, Monday, Oct. 5, at around 8:30 a.m., the homeowner noticed the goat below the cliff and called for help, CHEK News reported.
Metchosin Fire Department crews arrived and made a plan with their rope rescue technicians.
“We’re an agricultural community, so we are trained for animal rescue as well as people,” said Jacob Lamb, who led the rescue, as quoted by the Times Colonist. He said crews have helped dogs on cliffs and even horses in tricky spots before.
“This little girl was a pet and was in trouble,” Lamb said.
Clearing a Path Down
The priority was getting Aphrodite out safely, without hurting her or scaring her even more.
So before anyone went over the edge, firefighters cleared away broom and other debris to make a clear path down the cliff.
“The goat had spent the night below the cliff, and the priority was to safely secure and remove her without causing further injury,” the fire department said in a social media post.
Goat Treats and a Harness
Then firefighter Michael Campbell clipped into the rope rescue equipment and was lowered down to the ledge.
He came prepared. According to the Times Colonist, his pockets were full of “goat treats.”
Campbell secured a harness around the little goat, and the crew brought her back to safety. A photo shared by the fire department shows him securing the harness on the little goat out on the ledge.
She was then reunited with her “grateful and very relieved owner,” the department said.
A Happy Ending
For a small fire department, it was one more reminder of how wide-ranging their calls can be.
“Metchosin Fire members regularly train in technical rescue skills to ensure they are prepared when people, or animals, find themselves in difficult situations,” the department said.
And they summed it up perfectly: “Great work by our crews, and a happy ending for this little goat!”
Aphrodite is back on solid ground now, with all four hooves where they belong. And somewhere in Metchosin, a firefighter probably still has a few goat treats in his pocket, just in case.