Puppies rescued from cliff after '4 days of whining'

Two 16-week-old puppies were saved in a dramatic rescue yesterday by a trio of search and rescue groups after the pair's whimpers whipped up a fury on social media.

It took 18 volunteers, more than sevenhours of prep and a rope team to rescue a pair of puppies from a steep cliff near Mission on Sunday.

But the two St. Bernard-mix pooches did not waste time and immediately melted hearts, once plucked from their precarious perch near Steelhead B.C., north of Mission.

Dean Osen of Mission Search and Rescue (SAR) said volunteers are not usually called for animal rescues, but in this case an exception was madeso that untrained people didn't head up the hillside to try to save the stricken pups.

"Social media had exploded over these two puppies that were in the Steelhead area and they've been whining for four days," he said.

"It was veryrough terrain, so at that point, before anybody else puts themselves at risk, we put ourselves up there," he said.

The operation, which alsoentailed a rope team, employed rescuers from Surrey, Mission and Central Fraser Valley SARs.

The puppies were wrapped in blankets and taken to the Mission SPCA, after a bit of dog food.

"Great outcome to an untypical rescue," posted Central Fraser Valley Search and Rescue Society volunteers who helped with the mission.

It's unclear how the animals got up the hill or who owned them in the first place.