Spaniel survives 300ft cliff drop
Tuesday February 23rd 2010
A dog who jumped off a 300ft cliff and landed in the sea has been rescued by lifeguards and returned to her owner.
Springer spaniel Poppy was chasing a seagull when she plummeted over the cliff-top at Seven Sisters, East Sussex.
Somehow she survived the drop - with only a partially collapsed lung - and paddled to a beach, where she was picked up by an RNLI team.
Gavin Butcher, 46, one of the voluntary lifeboat crew members who rescued the three-year-old dog, said: "She was shivering - she was cold and nervous but apart from that she was as good as gold.
"Springer spaniels tend to get excited and I believe she was chasing a seagull at the time.
"That's why we always recommend keeping dogs on a lead on the cliffs."
Poppy's owners, 26-year-old teaching assistant Kelly Ixer and 31-year-old tree surgeon Ben Markwick, were reunited with their pet at a Brighton vets.
Mr Markwick's sister and her partner had been walking the spaniel when she ran away from them.
Miss Ixer, who has a three-week-old son called Henry, said: "When we got the phone call we were absolutely frantic.
"Up until three weeks ago she was our baby."
Poppy has made a full recovery since her lucky escape.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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