A group of cavers in Virginia made a miraculous discovery on Sunday while exploring an underground cave littered with animal skulls and bones – a dog that was still alive.
Dave Jackson and Jesse Rochette, of Colorado-based educational cave simulator company CaveSim, told The Associated Press that they were exploring Giant Caverns with a local couple in the town of Narrows in Giles County when the first member started down the cave and spotted the lone dog.
"He said, ‘Whoa! There’s a dog down here!’" Rochette said. "And I asked if it was alive and he said ‘Yes!'"
Rochette said he rappelled 40 to 50 feet down into the funnel-shaped cave with a piece of salami for the dog.
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"She instantly came over and sucked up the salami and she loved that," Rochette told the outlet.
The exploratory outing quickly turned into a rescue mission. The group wrapped the shivering dog in space blankets, foam pads and the hood from an old jacket they found in the cave, he said.
Jackson said they always carry some rescue gear on outings and used what they had to improvise a way to lift the dog out of the cave. A tarp and webbing became a dog harness rigged up into a pulley system to haul out the dog strapped to Rochette.
"As the two of us cleared the edge of the pit and made it to fresh air, she instantly perked up," Rochette said. "She lifted her head up and started sniffing the air."
The rescue took about three hours, the cavers said.
The property owner said he did not recognize the dog, prompting Rochette and Jackson to take the pup to a veterinary hospital. She was then taken to the Giles County Animal Shelter.
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In a Facebook post on Monday, the shelter called the dog "a living miracle."
"Yesterday, we received a call about a dog who had fallen into a cave in Narrows," the shelter said. "To be honest, we didn’t know what the next hours or even minutes would look like."
The dog, who Rochette said was dubbed SPAR-C, an acronym for small party assisted rescue with a C added for canine, had no broken bones, according to the shelter.
While she couldn't use her back legs well without assistance, the shelter said it expected her to be up and moving within days with medication, rest and good nutrition.
On Wednesday, the shelter posted an update saying Sparsy was up and moving, and her medical expenses have been covered. The shelter was still seeking her owner, but said that if she continued healing at this pace, she would be ready for a new home soon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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