If Dan Benny was late for work yesterday, he had one hell of an excuse.
Walking his new dog Rusty around the quarry gardens, in Northeast Valley, the 21-year-old let him off his lead and watched in horror as the juvenile red-nose pitbull ran towards a cliff and plummeted over the edge.
"I thought he would be dead. All I heard was bam, bam, bam, as he fell down."
Mr Benny said he was panicking when he looked over the edge and saw the dog 10m down trying to scramble up the steep cliff.
"I didn't want him to climb up or climb down, so I went down there myself."
After climbing down several metres, Mr Benny found himself on a crumbling ledge unable to get up or down.
"I was slipping and all the rocks were falling so I just sat myself down. I was going to start yelling but realised I had my phone with me."
At 3.32pm, Willowbank Fire Station was called to the scene for a cliff rescue.
Station Officer Mark Dyer said cliff rescues were not that common, and tended to involve just pets rather than pets and their owners.
Firefighter Julian Fuller was lowered to the ledge and was able to rescue Mr Benny, while Rusty was retrieved from his ledge shortly afterwards.
Mr Dyer said the rescue was "relatively straightforward", but praised Mr Benny for staying at his position and alerting authorities.
A visibly relieved Mr Benny said he was happy to have his dog back. He was concerned about getting to his job on time at Hoyts Octagon last night - but pleased he had an excuse if he was late.
"Not every day you get stuck on a cliff-face."
