When Alpine Rescue Team responded to a call around 1 p.m. Sunday, July 2, about a dog that had fallen from Torreys Peak, a 14,000-foot summit just east of Summit County, the pet owners had no idea if the dog was alive.<\/p>\n
Zola, the 3-year-old Aussiedoodle had gone off the east side of the Colorado 14er, \u201cwhich is pretty sheer,\u201d according to rescue group member and spokesperson Jake Smith, but the dog\u2019s owners didn\u2019t know how far the dog had fallen or where it was exactly located.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was definitely a part of them that was probably preparing for the worst,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWhen we met them at the top, they were pretty somber. As they learned the dog was alive and we were going to move forward with the rescue, I think they were pretty ecstatic.\u201d<\/p>\n
After 24 rescuers responded, a seven member team from the all-volunteer rescue group based in Jefferson County spent the next eight hours of their Fourth of July weekend locating and then rescuing the dog. Smith noted that Colorado 14ers are \u201chigh-consequence environments,\u201d so it is probably best to leash pets to prevent situations like this.<\/p>\n