Spaniel Chases Bird Off 300-Foot Cliff, Lives

Poppy on the mend after plunge into ocean off England
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2010 3:30 PM CST

Poppy the springer spaniel is on the mend after chasing a seagull over a cliff and right into the English Channel. Despite suffering a partially collapsed lung, the dog swam to shore beneath the "Seven Sisters" chalk cliffs on the East Sussex coast and awaited the arrival of a lifeboat. "She ran so fast there was no chance of her stopping," says her owner. "She was shivering," one of Poppy's rescuers tells the Telegraph. "She was cold and nervous but apart from that she was as good as gold."

Poppy may have some wisdom to share with Lexi, a 6-month-old Viszla who slipped off a 30-foot seawall in Porthcawl, Wales, injuring a paw. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution—the same volunteer organization that came to Poppy's rescue—said the high tide made all the difference. "Had it been a little earlier she would have fallen onto rocks and her injuries could have been far more serious," said a crew member.
(More England stories.)

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