Holly was rescued and lived at DARG before she found her forever home. Her family took her out one day and she found herself in a tight spot! DARG stepped up once more to help.
Holly, the rookie mountain climbing dog and her parents, Michelle and Josh, set off on an adventure for New Years Day and while they were out, Holly found her self in a bit of a predicament.
Michelle and Josh adopted Holly from DARG a few months earlier and have showered her with love every moment since. Dedicated to giving her the best life, they take her along with them when they do dog-friendly trips. For New Years Day, the family walked the Lions Head trail, a popular one for dog parents in Cape Town.
Holly was not impressed with her parent’s pace and shot off ahead of them into some bushes and disappeared. Michelle and Josh panicked when they couldn’t find her and got in contact with DARG for assistance. The couple exhausted every effort to find her that day but had no luck.
“We barely slept that night and were incredibly upset. The next morning, early, we were back on the mountain vowing we wouldn’t go back home without our Holly.” – Michelle Hoch
DARG coordinated search parties and received assistance from many volunteers while Michelle and Josh hiked to the spot where she disappeared. Michelle heard a noise after 2 hours of climbing and thankfully spotted Holly on a ledge.
“Then I saw something peeping out over a small ledge near the Wally’s Cave area: Holly’s little black-and-tan head! She started crying and howling when we saw her. She could hardly move without falling – and she was about three storeys up! We tried to talk to her calmly but we were both in tears.”
That is when it became a little nerve-wracking, Holly was about 150 metres out of reach and would need a professional rock climber to help get her down. Ryan Sandes heard about the rescue and saw that they needed the help of a professional rock climber. He got to the rescue site immediately and offered his assistance.
“Ryan met trail-guide Nick up top and then managed to lower himself down to Holly. He saw that she was okay! He tried to check if she was injured and yelled down to us that she seemed unharmed. He gave her water and stayed with her until our volunteer climbers arrived.
“Climbers Maghiel van Dorssen and Yonatan Wolowelsky arrived with their climbing gear and abseiled down from the top. They scooped up Holly from Ryan, who was still with her, and lowered her down to safety in a harness.” – Ryan Hayman
Holly had been on the mountain ledge for 31 hours when she was rescued. DARG shared their joy and thanks on their Facebook page.
“We couldn’t have done this without the help of some very special and brave people!
To the guys who climbed – Ryan, MJ and Yonatan – you are absolute legends and we can’t believe you got this baby to safety so efficiently – you are incredible and selfless. Thank you!
To all the kind emergency service representatives who helped and showed such concern – Gal from NSRI, Vasen from San Parks and Inspector Visser from the K-9 unit – thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
To our incredible DARG head Behaviorist Nicole and our wonderful volunteers Christy and Nick – you guys are amazing! Thank you for doing what you did today.
To anyone else we missed and anyone that helped this goofy little mountain goat by sharing her plight, arriving on the scene, giving advice and doing whatever you could to help – thank you from all of us and her family!
We love you Holly!”
Since her rescue, Holly has become a local celebrity and the DARG page has been updating the public on her past story as well as her time since the rescue. Holly will probably leave her mountain climbing days behind her but she sure helped bring some attention to DARG and the importance of adopting from shelters.
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