Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Dog suffers five nights on Napier cliff with broken leg

By Patrick O'Sullivan
Business editor·Hawkes Bay Today·
13 Nov, 2016 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Cocker spaniel Bluey with a broken leg after its ordeal. PHOTO/TIM WHITTAKER www.tim.co.nz

Cocker spaniel Bluey with a broken leg after its ordeal. PHOTO/TIM WHITTAKER www.tim.co.nz

After five long nights on a cliff edge suffering a broken leg and severe dehydration, cocker spaniel Bluey will soon be home with his owners thanks to the Napier Fire Service, Napier Port and the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter.

Bluey's owner said despite being stuck in pain on a bushy ledge above Breakwater Rd opposite Napier Port he was now "bright as a button".

The 4-year-old black-and-white dog was being taken for a walk at the public lookout reserve at the top of Bluff Hill on Monday night when he disappeared.

The assumption was he had got past the cliff-side fence and an abseiling crew from Napier Fire Service went looking on Tuesday.

Senior Station Officer Mark McGill said the wrong location was given so Bluey was not found.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Photographer Tim Whittaker was contacted by the distraught owner and asked if he could deploy his flying drone to try to locate Bluey.

"He told me he was there one minute and gone the next," Mr Whittaker said.

"His main concern was it was just lying there in pain and would have died over the next few weeks."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The drone flew along the cliff face on Thursday, taking a long series of photos free of charge, to no avail.

The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter was also contacted but the owners told they would have to wait until it was passing and the pilots would keep an eye out.

This he did on a training flight on Saturday, spotting Bluey on a ledge further along the cliff face than previously searched.

"They took photographs that gave us an idea where it was," Mr McGill said.

"We stuck some guys in a crane on the wharf and they spotted it with binoculars."

Two fire trucks and a team of 12 returned to the site shortly after 1pm, where they found Bluey had fallen 70m.

"We went straight down on top of him."

Bluey's received a drink from his rescuer's water bottle and was placed in a bag.

"The dog was quite quiet about the whole thing and he just carried on down to the bottom and handed him over the fence to the owners. Home and hosed."

Mr McGill said Bluey looked to have fallen about 50m down a steep slope before falling 20m down a vertical cliff , hitting some shrubbery on a bushy ledge which saved his life. If he had fallen the 20m to the bottom of the cliff he probably would have died.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The shaken owner, who asked not to be named, said she was delighted Bluey was alive but declined to be named or comment after several sleepless nights, but said Bluey was recovering well at a local veterinary practice with a broken rear leg.

"He is as bright as a button after all the rehydration and care," she said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner

Premium
Opinion

Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer

Hawkes Bay Today

The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner
Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner

His family say he will leave a legacy of kindness, and he was surrounded by it to the end.

18 Jul 07:18 PM
Premium
Premium
Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer
Opinion

Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer

18 Jul 07:00 PM
The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ
Hawkes Bay Today

The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ

18 Jul 06:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP