Dog travels 4 miles to find help after owner’s truck plunges off Oregon cliff

BAKER COUNTY, Ore. (KATU) — An Oregon man and his four dogs were rescued earlier this week after his vehicle plunged off an embankment and into a creek in Baker County – with one of the dogs traveling nearly four miles to alert humans for help!

The Baker County Sheriff’s Office said they received a report on Monday of a vehicle over an embankment on U.S. Forest Service Road 39 shortly before 9:30 a.m. The caller explained that his brother, Brandon Garrett, had not made it back to his camp. Family members reported finding his truck over the embankment but were unable to reach it due to the terrain.

Investigators later determined that Garrett was traveling north on the road with his dogs when he failed to negotiate a curve, causing the vehicle to plummet off the embankment. One of his dogs then traveled nearly four miles to the camp, which alerted the rest of the family that something was wrong.

Garrett crawled around one hundred yards from the crashed truck, where he spent the night, according to deputies. His three other dogs also survived and were found with him at the crash scene.

Baker County Sheriff’s Office, Baker County Search and Rescue, Pine Valley Rural Fire District and Halfway Ambulance were called to the crash. Deputies reported the sheriff found the truck, along with a dog, in the steep, brushy ravine.

Officials noted that as he was looking for an access point to the creek, he heard Brandon Garrett yelling for help. The sheriff then made his way over and gave Garrett first aid, while Pine Valley Rural Fire volunteers and U.S. Forest Service employees used chainsaws to clear a path for Search and Rescue.

Baker County Search and Rescue Ropes Team set up and began the difficult task of reaching Garrett down the cliff and over the rough terrain. Once the team got to him, they loaded him into a rescue basket. The basket was then connected to a highline rope system and pulled across the ravine, where he was transferred to a group of SAR members and medical personnel.

Garrett was then airlifted to the hospital.