A German tourist was walking his dog along the steep terrain of Storr Ridge in Skye, Scotland, when the dog, agitated by sheep, broke free from his owner and ran off a cliff.
Andre Bolouri watched in horror as he thought for sure Rocky had fallen to his death, but amazingly, the Alaskan Malamute survived in a most unusual way. It landed on a sheep, which broke the dog’s fall.
The cliffs and steep terrain of Storr Ridge; photo by Mark Schenk/FlickrBolouri was preparing to take a photo atop the 2,359-foot ridge, according to the U.K. Daily Express.
“I placed his lead between my legs, but Rocky took flight like a bullet,” Bolouri told the Daily Express. “I have never seen him that determined and fast. All my shouting couldn’t stop him.”
Bolouri stepped to the cliff’s edge to see if he could locate Rocky, but instead he spotted a search-and-rescue helicopter looking for a 25-year-old man who had fallen 600 feet to his death from another ridge.
It is not known how far the dog fell; the Daily Express did not say. But based on the terrain it could have been perhaps as much as 300 feet.
Locals eventually helped the distraught Bolouri look for his dog and three days later, it was spotted in a ditch trapped by the body of a dead sheep.
Bolouri told the Daily Express that he thought the sheep had gone over the cliff just before Rocky and softened his landing but trapping him, too.
“The sheep was dead and lying next to a rock, that’s why I assume it took the hit, and Rocky was lucky, and I assumed the whole time he was dead because it is such a deep fall.”
Rocky was dehydrated but otherwise was in good shape.
“I owe a lot, Rocky’s life, to everyone on the Isle of Skye who supported and encouraged me,” Bolouri told the Daily Express. “Thank you.”
Photo of Rocky is from Andre Bolouri’s Facebook page.
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