Dog rescued after falling 40ft below snow and ice for seven hours
Beeroo fell into a huge cavern – and rescuers posted a video of the moment pet was reunited with owner.
A dog had a lucky escape after falling 40 feet into a cavern of snow and ice.
Beeroo was walking with owner, Yichoo Su, through the snow near Sundance ski resort in Utah when he suddenly disappeared.
It turned out the four-year-old had fallen down a hole near Stewart Falls, where thawing snow had created a huge cavern beneath the surface.
A Search And Rescue (SAR) team was dispatched to the scene, and after establishing that Beeroo was still alive, they set about digging another hole into the snow above the pet.
“The major safety concern was the stability of the snow deposit,” a statement from the Utah County Sheriff’s office read. “As that snow melts from the bottom it creates a risk that the surface, or ‘roof’, of the cavern will collapse.”
A team member then rappelled through the hole and into the cavern, where he found the dog “curled up to one side”.
“There was concern about how the dog would respond to a stranger, but in this case the dog seemed glad to see the rescuer,” read the statement.
He was then brought to the surface and reunited with Su, remarkably none the worse for his seven-hour ordeal.
“He’s my family, definitely my family, I cannot live without him,” Su told KUTV.
