Well, actually this is a tale (or tail?) of more than one man and a dog. In Bangor, Maine USA, firefighters rescued a golden retriever from a ledge by a road where it had become stuck. By the time the dog was noticed, it was not such a golden retriever, but rather a muddy one!

The dog was being looked after by friends of the owner and they were getting ready to take it for a walk when it slipped out of an open door and took itself for a walk. The caretakers were worried and set out looking for the dog. No one knows exactly where the dog went on its adventure, but it was found about two hours later by a passerby. The dog had clambered up the roadside embankment and was sheltering on a ledge where it had become stuck. Unable to get down, the fire brigade were called in to rescue the poor soggy doggy!

Using a 24 foot ladder, one firefighter climbed up and “made friends with the dog a little bit” before picking it up and carrying it down the ladder, assisted by another firefighter behind him to steady his descent. Luckily, the people who were caring for the dog arrived just before the rescue and took him home. Assistant Fire Chief Tom Higgins commented that the dog was in good health, but in desperate need of a bath.

Higgins also commented that “these are the kinds of things our guys like to do from time to time” as firefighters have an affection for animals, so those tales of firefighters climbing up ladders to rescue cats from trees are another example of the work they do. It’s not all danger and blazing infernos, sometimes they get to help out in non-life-threatening situations.