An 11-year-old dog is expected to make a full recovery after he had to be rescued from the bottom of Owens River Gorge while searching for another missing dog.
The Mono County Sheriff's Office says last Saturday Sal's owner received a message there had been a sighting of his lost dog that had been missing for 40 days.
In response, Sal and his owner went to the gorge where Sal suffered a leg injury, unable to walk to move. Sal's owner then went to get help.
Eventually, Mono County Search & Rescue went down to the gorge where they found the Husky/German Shepard mix sitting quietly in the reeds of the river. Deputies say even with help, the 80-pound dog could only take two steps at a time before needing to lie down.
At that point, the decision was made to wrap up Sal into a sling and slowly pull him up the steep terrain. Most of the process was done at night, with rescuers wearing headlamps and using flashlights.
Three-quarters of the way up the 800-foot rocky terrain, rescuers had to change tactics and use a rope to lift him the rest of the way, finally making it up around 1 a.m., about nine hours later.
Deputies say Sal's owner took him to the vet the next day and reported that the dog sprained his leg, and suffered bruising and internal bleeding, but, Sal is expected to make a full recovery.
Deputies say the Search & Rescue team volunteered 68-man hours for this rescue.
