Reggie Rescue Update!
After experiencing a ruff couple of days, we’re pleased to share some updates about Reggie and the efforts to rescue him.
On the 18th of January 2022, Reggie was out on a walk with his owner when he accidentally fell into a crevice on Llwynypia Mountain and became trapped.
Multiple crews attended the scene and after assessing the situation requested the attendance of Wales Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR) and South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team (SMWCRT) to provide specialist assistance.
Station Manager for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Dean Evans, said:
“Our crews worked effectively in a multi-agency response to strategize and assist with the rescue while also securing the area.
Due to the fading light, crews supported the operation and providing equipment such as lights and cameras and ensured that health and safety and risk assessment protocols were being followed.
This was an incredibly complex incident and we’d like to thank our colleagues in SMWCRT for their quick response and for their specialist skills. We’d also like to thank the community for their support and our emergency service partners for providing assistance and advice during this incident.
Although this was a positive outcome and Reggie is safe and recovering well with his family, we’d like to urge the public to please take care when walking pets in unfamiliar locations or at night.”
A spokesperson for South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team said:
“We respond to a number of similar incidents to this each year, so we know what to expect when the call comes in from our Fire Service and Mountain Rescue colleagues and from members of the public.
The ‘holes’ that dogs seem to find in these sorts of locations are often no wider than the dog themselves. They can be quite deep, which means reaching the dog with simple dog catching equipment is impossible – as in this case, the ‘hole’ was around 25ft deep.
When you are dealing with near solid rock, widening a passage large enough for a human to fit inside has to be done very carefully, to avoid dropping items down the hole, and requires specialist items and equipment.
In the case of Reggie, we sent a team quickly to the area to assess the situation, but it was evident that this rescue may take several days – one of our more recent animal rescues took three full days of digging to reach the animal. Our team has recently invested in a drain camera system, but in this case, ours was very out-performed by the more professional equipment of Drainforce Ltd.
This was a great example of a multi-agency response where we could provide some of the technical skills and equipment and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service crews were able to support the team’s deployment, provide transport to the site, help manage the local enthusiasm and provide working lights and other useful equipment.
We were pleased to support this rescue and are very glad Reggie is back with his owners and is safe.”
Drainfroce Ltd said:
“Drainforce were happy to help the community with the rescue of Reggie and are very pleased that he was reunited with his family safely.”
Reggie’s owner, Leah Davies, is an On-Call Firefighter at Tonypandy Station and was completely overwhelmed by the response. Leah’s quick thinking to use the app What3Words to tag the location where Reggie fell allowed emergency service teams to locate them on the mountain. A post shared by Leah about Reggie on social media quickly went viral, with a number of agencies and companies offering assistance and advice from cameras to food parcels to veterinary services. Leah wanted to express her thanks and appreciation to the community for their incredible spirit and support, with special thanks to; Bespoke Rope Access & Rescue, The Chip Stop, Shepherds Veterinary Hospital.
