A dog owner was full of tears after firefighters saved her golden retriever stuck behind a fast-running waterfall on Mosquito Creek, Saturday afternoon.
Dozens of people cheered after the six-month-old dog was brought out in a District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services member’s arms.
Assistant chief Ryan Stewart said they received reports of a dog going over a waterfall near Evergreen Place and a person attempting to rescue the pet around 3 p.m.
When firefighters came to the scene, the person safely got out of the water, but the dog was still stuck.
The owner was walking the dog in an off-leash area near the creek when it was swept three metres down the waterfalls under the Mosquito Creek foot bridge. The dog was trying to come back up but couldn’t and ended up finding a hole to stay in behind the waterfall, the owner said.
“I did not know what’s going on, whether my dog was drowning, injured – very deep-water area – or whether he was being washed away,” the owner said.
Stewart said 16 crew members were deployed including the swift water rescue team, while a second team at the bottom of the waterfall served as a “backup rescue system” in case the dog broke free from the area. One rescuer entered the waterfall and carried the dog out safely, he said.
“It was a great result, not just for the dog and the owner, but I know our firefighters were really happy after it,” Stewart said. “A large portion of the people there are dog owners themselves, and so I think everybody was ecstatic that it was a great result.”
North Vancouver resident Patrick Haney was doing his weekend walk through Mosquito Creek when he saw something out the ordinary – a crowd of people near the waterfall. Haney took video of the incident, hoping for a firefighter to emerge out of the waterfall with a happy ending.
“I kind of figured that it was going to be one of those moments that if he was successful in bringing the dog out, that it would be a happy video, so I just kept my phone up,” Haney said.
This isn’t the first rescue in Mosquito Creek. A border collie was saved by District of North Vancouver firefighters after becoming stranded on the edge of the fast-running creek in February, 2020.
Stewart said it’s not uncommon for events like this to occur.
“There’s a lot of people that live and visit the North Shore and frequent the trails and are around the water systems,” Stewart said, adding that visitors should be mindful of pets being around fast-moving water. "Especially during periods of high rainfall or snow melt. It can be hazardous for people and pets entering the water.”
The owner is glad their pet is now safe and sound.
“He [has] recovered fully, happy to be at home. I did not sleep well for the first night, being moved, so touched by the good people in the neighbourhood,” they said.
Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
