THE tale of a dog believed to have been hurled 300ft into a Gwynedd quarry looks set to have a happy ending as he recovers from his ordeal.
The six-month old labrador terrier cross was rescued by a woman visiting Dorothea Quarry in Penygroes and taken to the Freshfields Animals Shelter in Nasareth, near Caernarfon.
Volunteer Veronica Hanson is fostering the dog at her home in Benllech, said the puppy could have been stuck on a ledge in the quarry for three days, and praised the rescuer for her bravery.
“People had been hearing whining, but this lady spotted something and went to get a dinghy to row over the quarry pool to find him,” she said.”
“She sat with him on the ledge until he was calm, and then managed to get him into the dinghy – which is a feat in itself.”
The puppy, named Legend by his rescuer after being found on a ledge, suffered from shock and bruising to his head, but was otherwise
Freshfield’s Animal Shelter owner Lesley Tarleton said that although the New Year is traditionally seen as the time that most pets are abandoned, school holidays and the build up to Christmas are their busiest periods.
“It’s the same every year. People want to go away for Christmas, or they have relatives coming over and the animals isn’t house trained, or they just get bored of the animal and they want to get rid of them,” she said.
She added: “It is terrifying for the animals at the time of year, especially since the weather gets colder.”
Freshfield Animal shelter is home to 150 horses, 34 cats and a number of rabbits and ferrets.
The shelter is looking to rehome Legend, and Ms Tarleton said there had been dozens of offers to house him.
She added that the shelter relied on charitable donations and income from its charity shops in Caernarfon, Porthmadog and Llandudno to survive.