Faithful friend fell 10 metres and lay alone for 10 days

Stuck on a steep bluff, bordered by a creek and a waterfall, Pip the black labrador survived a 10-metre fall that nearly killed her.

That was 10 days ago and since then, her family have spent every day searching for their beloved pet with fading hopes she would be found alive.

On Sunday afternoon, rescuers finally found her several hundred metres from the bottom of the steep bluff. Curled up, with broken bones and just enough energy to lift her head.

Pip’s owner, Lee Hart lives in London and Pip has since lived with his parents Maria and Roger Hart in Richmond.

‘‘I can’t believe she is still alive,’’ Maria said. ‘‘It hasn’t been easy getting to her.’’

Maria said Lee had ‘‘exhausted his options’’ trying to find Pip before he had to return to London, having walked back into the area seven times. He was on a plane home when Pip was finally found on Sunday afternoon.

Lee had been visiting family when he and Roger took Pip out hunting in the Branch Valley in Marlborough on April 12.

Roger and Lee were near Mt Morris, when they came to rest on top of a steep bluff, keeping an eye out for deer.

‘‘Lee got up and said, ‘come on Pip’ and went to walk away, then heard this almighty crash and turned around and she was gone.’’

The family spent the following days searching the area by foot. A helicopter scoured the area on the third day, flying up and down the surrounding valleys but they couldn’t see any sign of Pip. On Sunday, with the help of Kiwi Guiding owner Jack Gauld, Roger and Maria set out again to look for her.

‘‘We climbed to the place where she fell and I yelled out to her and Jack heard two barks, then he said ‘there’s a dog down here’.’’

Jack was peering over another steep bluff when he heard Pip growl, and he called for Roger.

‘‘Her little eyes just lit up, even though she couldn’t move, she held her head up at us,’’ Roger said.

‘‘It was amazing, a pretty moving time.’’

Thirsty and gaunt, Pip drank more than a litre of water before she was bundled into a backpack for the journey out.

The group had satellite communication devices which enabled them to make contact with each other and a helicopter despite having no cellphone coverage.

‘‘The chopper pilot was very good, he managed to sit the skid on a rock and just take her from there so she could go straight in the machine, it was amazing.’’

Pip was now recovering at The Vet Centre in Richmond and had lost about 10 kilograms as a result of her ordeal.