NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — “Klipse” the French bulldog was in a tricky situation on Tuesday morning after he fell down a cliff at Palisades Interstate Park in New Jersey. But one successful rescue operation later, he came out unscathed.
While on a walk with his owner's brother at about 5:45 a.m., the defiant pup slipped away and ran toward the middle of the road, swerving in and out of traffic, his owner told the New York Daily News. When he was later spotted by a good Samaritan who tried to help him, Klipse ended up getting spooked by some cyclists and jumping over the cliff area, prompting her to call in the rescue.
Just before 7 a.m., the Port Authority Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit was alerted by the George Washington Bridge command of the urgent situation.
Minutes later, the PAPD said that Officer Stephen Nicola and his partner Officer Rob Kuchie spotted Klipse on the slope. Kuchie rappelled down the cliff, reached Klipse, and pulled him to safety with the assistance of an animal snare and K9 harness.
Nicola is a 10-year Port Authority veteran and had never been involved with an animal rescue before Klipse, making the experience a memorable one.
Kuchie, who also has a decade of service, was one of the PAPD officers involved in the rescue of Ricardo the runaway bull who escaped a slaughterhouse and ran to freedom on the train tracks near Newark Penn Station at the end of last year.