Honolulu firefighters airlifted a hiker’s pet dog that fell off the side of Waimano Trail in Pearl City this morning.
The Honolulu Fire Department said it responded with six units and 17 personnel after receiving a 911 call at 10:06 a.m. for a rescue involving a dog.
The first unit arrived at 10:22 a.m. and secured a landing zone near Pearl City High School. Firefighters on HFD’s Air 1 helicopter conducted a search operation, while others rescuers went up the trail to search by foot.
The caller reported that after hiking for around 45 minutes, the dog fell off the side of the trail and landed about 20 feet below on a “steep mountain slope,” according to a HFD news release.
Using the caller’s geolocation, rescuers on Air 1 spotted the dog and inserted personnel nearby.
The rescuers secured the dog into a harness, and hoisted the uninjured animal safely back onto the trail at around 11:15 a.m., HFD said. The caller and the dog then descended the trail without assistance.
In the news release, HFD officials reminded hikers that “keeping your dog on a short leash is important for safety, courtesy, and control. An off-leash dog can disappear out of sight, and if you can’t see what your dog is doing, you can’t prevent them from getting into trouble, like encountering another animal or eating something dangerous.
“If there are off-leash areas where you are hiking, only let your dog run free if you have verbal control of your dog, you can see your dog at all times, and you’ve worked on a reliable recall.”
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