A small dog that had been reported missing for two days hadn’t run away. Instead, she was found in a Sydney high-rise apartment. She had somehow ended up outside her own building, on a narrow 13th-floor ledge. There, she sat pressed against vertical window slats while her owners searched the street and hallways below.
The dog, named Ellbie, was last seen roaming the apartment. Her owners initially thought she had slipped out and left the building, but security footage didn’t show her exiting. Building staff put out an announcement, and her owners posted missing pet flyers. But no one had any idea where Ellbie went.
A local man named Fernando Westin saw one of the flyers and decided to fly a drone over the building to look for Ellbie. The drone found the missing dog outside the apartment tower, on a different side from the flat she lived in. She had somehow worked her way outside and got stuck along the building’s exterior.
Getting her down wasn’t exactly simple. Fire and rescue crews, in addition to specialized vertical rescue team from Crows Nest had to rope down from the top of the 17-story tower to reach her. By the time it was over, the dog ended up safe and sound inside the building.
What the Owners Thought Happened
Ellbie was last seen at a 13th-floor apartment in the Lighthouse building on Howard Avenue in Dee Why, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Her owners reported her missing and initially thought she had slipped out of the unit and somehow left the building.
Building security footage reportedly did not show her leaving, however, and building staff issued an announcement. Her owners also put up missing pet posters in the area as the search continued.
The Northern Beaches Advocate and 7NEWS reported that a local man named Fernando Westin saw one of the missing-pet flyers and sent up a drone to search the building. The drone located Ellbie outside the apartment tower itself, around to another side of the building from her own flat, stuck on a narrow exterior space outside a resident’s window.
The footage shared in the coverage shows her pressed behind vertical slats, sitting in a space barely wide enough for her body.
How the Rescue Happened
Firefighters who arrived at the scene first tried to reach Ellbie from inside the building. Unfortunately, she wasn’t accessible through an open window. Rescuers were wary of startling her into moving further along the ledge.
The plan switched to the roof. Fire and Rescue NSW crews from Dee Why and Narrabeen responded as well. The crew set up a rope system from the top of the building and lowered a firefighter down the outside of the tower toward the ledge where Ellbie was trapped. The firefighter reached her, secured her, and lifted her away from the ledge before passing her to firefighters waiting inside the apartment window. The crowd watching below broke into applause.
What Happened When Ellbie Was Safe
Once Ellbie was off the ledge, firefighters gave her water and food before she was taken to a veterinary clinic in Collaroy for a checkup, 7NEWS reported. She had been hungry and thirsty after more than 48 hours on the ledge but had been safely reunited with her family.
Animal rescues like these are more than delicate operations. They take an enormous amount of trust to ensure the animal’s life, so it probably goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway. Don’t attempt these types of rescues on your own. Leave that to the professionals.