Well doggone it, Zach’s come back
Firefighters, rescue crew unite to save plucky pooch
Apet owner was “beside herself with happiness” when her dog was found injured at the foot of a steep 100m bank two weeks after he went missing.
Mandy Going and her husband were devastated when Zach, a 9-year-old rottweiler, disappeared on November 11.
Going’s plea for help on social media got a reply from a Waiatarua resident who reported hearing a dog barking.
Going recognised the sound as Zach and a rescue mission was organised. A group from the Waiatarua Volunteer Fire Brigade, a specialist rescue crew from Henderson, an Auckland City group and a lighting unit from Te Atatu assembled above a steep, bush-clad, hillside on Monday and saw Zach below by a stream. Waiatarua chief fire officer Kevin Healy said:
“He lost quite a bit of weight and didn’t want to move.
“Mandy was heartbroken that he had gone missing, so when she found him, was beside herself with happiness.
“It took quite a while for the rescue crews to bring him back up, so Mandy just laid down in the stream bed and cuddled Zach up to keep him warm. It was beautiful.”
Because of the “terrible terrain”, the team scouted for another way out.
But with no luck, they realised they had to hoist Zach back up the steep bank.
The crew put Zach in a rescue basket and used ropes as a guide to pull him back up to safety.
Zach was then transferred to an emergency vet.
Healy said he was impressed with the “incredible and awesome piece of teamwork from everyone all the way through”.
“Which was from Mandy who never gave up hope. And then the neighbours who let us get access through their property. All the volunteers that helped out, all the West Auckland crews and the others that helped us out.”