EDMONTON — Emergency crews had to rappel down a steep riverbank in Edmonton to help a woman who had gone to rescue her dog from a pack of coyotes.
The woman was walking three dogs in the city’s river valley Thursday night when as many as nine coyotes attacked one of her pooches and dragged it onto the North Saskatchewan River.
Police duty Insp. Joel Whittaker says the woman scrambled to help the canine, but couldn’t find her way back up a steep embankment and had to phone 911.
Whittaker says rescuers eventually climbed down to get the pair to safety after a spotlight-equipped police helicopter was brought in to locate them in the darkness.
The dog was taken to an emergency veterinary clinic for treatment of bite wounds.
The woman was not hurt.