Luna the cockapoo is reunited with her owner after two-day, 40-person rescue mission when she fell down 500ft cliff

A cockapoo named Luna was reunited with her owner following a two-day, 40-person rescue mission after falling off a 500ft cliff. 

Rescue teams had to carry out a ‘coordinated pincer movement’ on a cliff face to catch the dog. 

Luna luckily only fell about 160ft to a ledge at Thorncombe Beacon on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.

The search was made more difficult because the frightened pup kept running away from her rescuers along the ledge.

And despite attempts to coax her to them, coastguard teams had to abandon the rescue on the first day as it got dark and the weather worsened. 

Three coastguard teams from Beer, West Bay and Lyme Regis returned the next day to try to rescue Luna in the daylight, with two fire crews also attending. 

The cockapoo was finally coaxed into an animal rescue bag and winched to the clifftop where she was handed back to her relieved owners.

Luna fell off the cliff between Eype and Seatown in Dorset just before 5pm on Thursday. 

A rescuer on a rope was lowered to her position but Luna ran off along the ledge and could not be caught. 

After the teams returned on Friday morning, rope rescue teams carried out a ‘coordinated pincer movement’ and eventually managed to retrieve the dog unharmed. 

The coastguard urged dog owners to keep their pets on a lead at cliffs. 

A spokesman for Beer Coastguard said: ‘Please keep your dogs on a lead when near the cliff edge, this rescue took over 11 hours in total with over 40 people involved over the two days.’

The spokesman added: ‘Numerous things were tried to get her to come back, but with the weather deteriorating and conditions at clifftop getting worse, late into the evening the decision was made to abandon the attempt with the intention to return in daylight if Luna could be seen or heard.

‘Beer, West Bay and Lyme teams returned to the scene with additional assistance from the fire and rescue rope team.

‘The plan was to try and get a rope technician down the cliff either side of where Luna was, but Luna went along the cliff the other way. 

‘The persistence of the coastguard rope technician paid off and after a while she was tempted into and secured in our animal bag and brought safely to the clifftop and handed back to the owners.’

A spokesman for Bridport Fire Station said: ‘Incident commanders from West Bay Coastguard, Bridport Fire Station and the technical rescue lead worked together to formulate a safe rescue plan.

‘Two rope rescue teams were deployed over the cliff on either side of the dog’s location, creating a coordinated pincer movement to safely secure the animal.

‘A rope technician from West Bay successfully captured the dog, which was then brought back to safety and reunited with its owners. Thankfully no obvious injuries were reported.

‘This was an excellent example of multi-agency collaboration with rescue services working together seamlessly.’