Hawke’s Bay: German Shepherd found and reunited with hurt owner after cliff fall near Mohaka River

Hopes had been fading for beloved German Shepherd Bee - lost and alone in a river valley - when rescuers spotted her swimming towards their boat.

It had been two days since the Lowe Corporation rescue helicopter had winched her owner Robbie Johnson off a Mohaka River cliff face.

The pair were camping and rafting in the remote area of Hawke’s Bay on Wednesday afternoon when the ground beneath them gave way and they plunged more than 30m onto the rock face below.

Demi Wharehinga-Harmer, a friend of the man and his dog, said Johnson managed to crawl to get service where he raised the alarm at about 3pm.

She and two others helped co-ordinate a rescue response with emergency services including the rescue helicopter.

Hundreds of people offered to search for Bee, who was missing near the Mohaka River.

“I got a text from him saying ‘I have broken my leg, Demi, I need a helicopter quickly,’” Wharehinga-Harmer said.

When Johnson was airlifted from about 4km upstream from Te Kooti bridge, Bee had stuck by his side, but had to remain behind because the challenging location forced the use of a winch, which isn’t suitable for animals.

It wasn’t long before the story reached social media. Bee was still out there.

The search for Bee ramped up on Thursday but after a full day of searching, there was no sign.

“Everyone was on a wild goose chase to find the dog.”

Wharehinga-Harmer had taken a drone out and friends had taken a jet boat in search of her with no luck.

On Friday Hawke’s Bay’s Rescue Helicopter crew consulted with Vet Services and sourced a muzzle and appropriate restraints for Bee and joined the search during scheduled training. They were later called away to an emergency and were unable to finish the search.

Hundreds of people began offering on social media to come to Hawke’s Bay for the weekend to look for her.

In the end, it was two jet boaters returning from their search who happened to look behind them late on Friday afternoon, and saw Bee swimming towards the boat.

“She jumped straight in the boat and they were on their way home.”

Wharehinga-Harmer said Johnson, who was still in hospital on Monday, had left behind his hat in the hopes Bee would continue to smell him and stay in the area - which she did.

Bee couldn't be retrieved by rescue helicopter after she and owner Robbie Johnson fell over 30m down a cliff.

Wharehinga-Harmer said Bee was a “trooper” and had slightly worn pads on her paws but was healthy.

She said it was heart-warming to see their post on social media had lots of people offering to help with the search.

Bee stayed with Wharehinga-Harmer before she was reunited with Johnson on Saturday.

“He just broke down with happiness, that’s all he was worried about as soon as he got in the helicopter.”

Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter Service chief pilot Charlie Beetham said the challenging extraction meant they had to leave Bee behind.

“It was a difficult winch extraction of the patient and we don’t typically winch dogs as we have no way of securing them to the hoist.”

Beetham said the crew did the best they could with the challenging terrain.

“In this case, it was a particularly technical and difficult extraction from a very steep and unstable face.”

He said typically dogs were allowed in the rescue helicopter, however, it was dependent on circumstances, state or behaviour of the dog, weight and balance, and condition of the patient.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.