Park rangers rescue husky that fell down 30-foot cliff during hike at Griffith Park

By Amanda Starrantino

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    LOS ANGELES, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Mitus, a 1-year-old husky, means everything to Jason Garcia and his family, especially after they almost lost him while hiking in Griffith Park.

“We reached the top and the dog got a heat stroke at the top,” Garcia said. “He started having a seizure at the top.”

Garcia said the family ran out of water and he picked up his dog to help it but tripped along the hillside.

“I started panicking because after he stopped breathing for a few seconds I grabbed him and went down,” Garcia said.

Park rangers quickly arrived to help the family, who were a mile up the Wonderview Trail.

“We found a family that was distraught because their dog had fallen over a steep cliff,” Senior Park Ranger Adam Dedeaux said. “We set up a rope rescue system and we lowered Ranger Hills over the cliff.”

Ranger Madison Hills found Mitus about 30 feet down a steep embankment and brought him back up to his family. However, Hills described the challenges accompanying animal rescues.

“Doing rescues with people who maybe have fallen off a trail and are exhausted, we can explain to them what we are trying to do in helping them,” she said. “But, with animals, you just don’t know how they are going to respond to you.”

This year, park rangers have rescued eight dogs. They have responded to 190 hiker incidents ranging from heat exhaustion, lost hikers and cliff rescues.

“A lot of the hikes here are a lot longer than people expect,” Hills said. “It is hot out, so be safe.”

Dr. Samuel Park, a veterinarian, reminded owners that pets react to the heat in the same way as humans.

“If it’s hot for us, it’s definitely hot for pets,” Park said. “Anything really over 85 degrees,, we have to be careful with pets. Anything over 100, definitely pets shouldn’t be outdoors.”

Park warned owners to be aware of the signs of heat exhaustion in pets, which include dry gums, dark red or muddy-colored gums, heavy or very collapses panting and an increased heart rate.

“They are a lot closer to the ground than we are and heat radiates from the ground and they get it a lot more intensely than we do,” Park said.

With Mitus safe and back to health now at home, Garcia says it was a tough lesson to learn but warns other to keep their dogs at home when it gets too hot.

“I was really scared that something bad happened because I thought my dog was going to die,” Garcia said. “Thank you to all the rangers that helped rescue him. Thank you to all of them that helped us.”

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