A dog named Saul is being credited with leading rescuers to his owner after the 53-year-old man fell 70 feet down a ridge in California’s Tahoe National Forest last week.
“At first we didn’t believe it because it sounded like a movie,” Sgt. Dennis Haack of Nevada County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue told local news station KCRA.
The dog’s owner, whose name has not been released, fell from the ridge in a remote area of the forest on Tuesday. But he wasn’t able to call 911 for help until around noon the next day, when he managed to drag himself to a place where he could use his cell phone, despite having a broken hip and ribs.
Twenty-five volunteers set out to find the man, but “the true credit” for locating him went to Saul, according to a Facebook post from Nevada County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue.
Saul, described in the Facebook post as a border collie, was able to “flag down two searchers” in “true ‘LASSIE’ fashion” and lead them about 200 yards to where the man was lying on the ground covered in a camouflage tarp.
The dog got the volunteers’ attention by approaching them, then jumping around, spinning in circles, and running about 20 feet ahead before turning and looking back them, according to the New York Times. Haack told the Times that a volunteer said over the radio, “Hey, I think this dog is trying to lead us somewhere.”
The man, who suffered non life-threatening injuries, was transported via helicopter to a hospital. He was reunited with Saul, who had received plenty of accolades and treats, the next day.
Haack told the Times that he believes the search team would have eventually found the man on its own. But he recognized the major assist Saul gave them.
″[The man] was very lucky the dog directed our rescue personnel to him,” Haack told local news station KTVU. “Great work and skill by all involved.”
