CASTILE, NY (AP) -- A 60-pound pit bull named Xena is back with her owner thanks to a skilled rescue team at Letchworth State Park in western New York.
WROC TV in Rochester reports that police and rescue teams spent yesterday morning retrieving Xena from a 350-foot-deep gorge in the park, which is nicknamed the "Grand Canyon of the East" because of its spectacular cliffs and vistas.
Xena strayed from her owner and plummeted into the gorge Saturday evening, but park police postponed rescue efforts because of safety concerns in the fading daylight.
Beginning the following morning, members of the State Park Police High Angle Rescue Team used climbing ropes to descend into the gorge to rescue the reddish-brown pit bull. They strapped her into a rescue harness and hauled her up.
Xena's owner, Jessica Rollison of Henrietta, near Rochester, took her to a veterinarian for treatment.
The park police say they rescue an average of two dogs a year from the gorge. They advise owners to keep their pets leashed at all times because of the dangerous cliffs.
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