‘Incredibly lucky’ black Labrador which fell 50ft over a reservoir dam wall SURVIVES the ordeal

An ‘incredibly lucky’ black Labrador survived a 50ft fall over a reservoir dam – suffering only a broken leg and minor cuts. 

The 20-month-old pet became panicked after losing his family during a festive family walk through a woodland and retraced his steps back to the Burrator Reservoir in Dartmoor, before vaulting over the wall.

Oban, known as Obi, fell into the valley below and was not found until hours later when a search and rescue team was mobilised to help find him. 

Incredibly, he suffered nothing more than a broken leg and cuts.

Oban (pictured), known as Obi, became panicked after losing his family during a festive family walk

Mark Harding ‘s wife Lorna and daughters Ellie and Izzie pictured together taking the dogs on a walk

Owner Mark Harding was walking with wife Lorna, 57, and daughters Ellie, 26, and Izzie on Boxing Day with their five dogs when Obi ran off ahead of them in trees.

Mr Harding, 58, a director of a property firm, said: ‘He obviously lost us, panicked and tried to find his way back on the route he came from.

‘I understand he ran across the dam, some people tried to catch him because they could see he was beside himself.

‘He decided the best way to get back to where he’d come from was to jump onto the parapet of the dam itself and leap 50 feet down to ground level.

‘The drop is horrendous.’ Mr Harding, from Yelverton, added: ‘I always have this fear of a dog jumping over so we always have the dogs on a lead going over the dam.

‘We then crossed the dam into the woods and the dog got lost in the wood.’ 

The family spent hours searching for Obi, while a passer-by also summoned the fire brigade. The dog was at one point spotted by a walker, but managed to run away.

He was eventually found by members of the Tavistock branch of the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team in dark and wet conditions four hours after he went missing.

Catherine Jones, the Harding family’s vet who was amongst the volunteers with the rescue organisation, said the group surrounded the dog to stop him running off again.

Incredibly, the beloved Labrador suffered nothing more than broken leg and cuts. Pictured: An x-ray of the broken leg

The Hardings then made their way to him so he could be reunited with them.

Mr Harding added: ‘He came to me and collapsed on top of me and then the search and rescue guys put him in a tent.’ 

Miss Jones said: ‘It’s amazing he didn’t have more serious injuries like a ruptured diaphragm or something like that given the height he had fallen. He’s incredibly lucky.’ 

Obi is expected to spend 12 months in recovery after surgery on his leg.

Dartmoor Search and Rescue’s Tavistock branch said that while mountain rescue teams do not usually search for lost animals, members turned out to ‘avoid risk to members of the public who were intent on searching in darkness alongside fast flowing water’.