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120-pound Great Dane attempts to climb tree, promptly gets stuck

Her owner guesses she was chasing a raccoon or a squirrel.

Chloe Bryan

on April 12, 2016

Getting stuck in trees: not just for cats anymore.

Kora, a Great Dane, found herself trapped 20 feet up a tree after a misguided climbing attempt in Louisville, Kentucky, last weekend. Kora's owner, Wes McGuirk, discovered his stranded dog when he returned home from dinner Saturday night and couldn't find her in the house.

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But when he finally shined a flashlight up a nearby tree, there she was. All 120 pounds of her.

On Saturday, Kora the Great Dane jumped a fence and somehow climbed 20 feet up a tree. “I've been doing this job for 12...
Posted by KMTV Action 3 News on Monday, April 11, 2016

After several futile attempts to get Kora down himself, McGuirk finally called the fire department for assistance.

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At first, firefighters were just as baffled as McGuirk was.

"We drove in and I looked out the window and I thought, yeah, there is a 120-pound dog up in that tree," Lieutenant Jon Hardy of the Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department told KMTV News.

After a bit of brainstorming, volunteers were finally able to lower Kora from the tree using a rope, a ladder and a police dog harness.

Several feet from the ground, Kora's weight snapped her restraints, but a few brave firefighters were there to catch her.

Tonight, as we were covering the Louisville district, we received a call that was far from typical. We were advised that a dog was stuck about 20 feet up in a tree. Additional information was that the dog was a Great Dane that was about 120 pounds. While we were responding, we were admittedly somewhat skeptical. Upon arrival, sure enough, there she was. A 120 pound Great Dane about 20 feet up in the tree. After some quick game planning, and assistance from the Sheriff's Office K-9 Handler, we put our plan into action. The initial plan was to get a harness on the dog and see if he would follow a friend of the owner back down the tree. That didn't work to well. The next plan was to attach a long leash to the harness and lower the dog to the ground. During both plans, we had members on the ground holding a tarp to catch the dog if she would have fallen. As you can see in the video, the second option worked well enough to get her out of the tree unharmed. Big thanks to Elmwood Rescue, Cass County Sheriffs Deputies and the homeowners. This is one of those calls that had a great outcome and will not soon be forgotten.
Posted by Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday, April 9, 2016

"This is one of those calls that had a great outcome and will not soon be forgotten," the Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post.

McGuirk thinks Kora was probably chasing a raccoon or a squirrel.

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Topics Animals