A much-loved pet dog has survived a plunge into the Atlantic from a 91-metre (300ft) cliff in Co Clare.
The alarm was raised at about 3.30pm on Sunday when a member of the public rang the emergency services to report that a dog had gone over the edge at Lookout Point, Dunlicky near Kilkee.
It’s understood that the dog, a family pet named Vimes, got away from his owners and and got too close to the cliff edge.
The dog lost his footing and plunged 300 feet into the sea below and was lucky to have avoided the cliff face on the way down and rocks at the base of the cliff.
The Irish Coast Guard marine rescue sub centre at Valentia Island in Co Kerry was alerted an in turn requested the the Kilkee unit of the service to mobilise.
The volunteer service quickly launched its rescue boat for what was its 10th callout in a week.
Rescuers raced to the scene in an effort to locate the animal but were unable to find him immediately. They then discovered that the hardy animal had managed to make it ashore at the base of the cliff.
Coast Guard personnel set about devising a plan to recover the dog to safely reach and rescue Vimes.
About an hour after the alarm was raised the dog was taken on board the rescue boat and taken back the slipway at Kilkee where he was reunited with his owners apparently uninjured.
A Coast Guard spokesman said: “We got a report that a dog had fallen from the cliff at Look Out Point which is around 300 feet or more high.
“We launched our boat a went to the scene to investigate. We searched for the dog and found that he had made it ashore at the base of the cliff.”
“We made a plan to recover the dog and did so successfully. The dog didn’t appear to be hurt but was happy to see us. We brought him back to our base in Kilkee and reunited him with his owners,” the spokesman added.
Vimes, whose owners are currently on honeymoon, later tweeted an image of himself in his bed, saying: “Taking it easy now! Me when I’m not adventuring and causing a small maritime crisis.”