Vet's dog dies after 100m Telegraph Bay cliff fall

Helen Dickinson, who is also the States Vet, was out with the Alderney Birdwatching Club when her Parson Russell terrier, Boyce, fell down a 100m cliff at Telegraph Bay, which lies to the south of the island.

The accident happened at around 10am on Sunday, and after spending hours scouring the area to see if the dog had scrambled back up, Ms Dickinson's birdwatching friends contacted Alderney Fire Service.

The service despatched its cliff rescue team and volunteers conducted a controlled descent down the cliff. They found the dog, which had unfortunately broken its back and been killed in the fall.

With the cliff face crumbling away, it was too difficult for the rescue team to climb back up. They contacted the RNLI lifeboat crew to launch the Roy Barker to pick them and Boyce up.

Ms Dickinson said that Boyce had been very old and had difficulty controlling his movements and she was aware that he did not have long left to live. But his fall had left her in a state of shock.

She had briefly let him off the lead and was watching birds when he disappeared from view.

'Members of the Alderney Bird Club stopped me from climbing down the cliff myself and trying to rescue him,' said Ms Dickinson. 'The Fire Service and the lifeboat crew did a fantastic job and I am very grateful to them both. They brought Boyce home in style.'

A spokeswoman for Alderney's RNLI said the Trent class lifeboat was on the scene within 20 minutes of the launch at 3.35pm on Sunday. 'In failing light and rising tide, the lifeboat collected the rescue climbers who had descended to the beach after recovering the dog from the cliff. The lifeboat then returned to Braye Harbour at 4.30pm,' she said.

Ms Dickinson said she had received many calls and visits from residents who knew Boyce, the unofficial 'receptionist' at the veterinary surgery.