A beloved sheepdog is alive and incredibly unharmed after flying off a 300-metre cliff on a coastal Hawke's Bay farm.
Hercules spent two nights stuck on a sea cliff as a dramatic rescue operation was hatched.
He decided to chase after a sheep, who was up on a cliff — which caused the canine to slip, becoming isolated with no one to rescue him.
Soon after he went missing, local farmer Richard Kibblewhite and his brother-in-law got a team together, grabbed a boat and sailed out to rescue the loyal pup.
"I said, 'The sea's pretty rough, so give us a day or two'.
"So we got the boat ready, got a tractor driver and my crew. We all jumped on the boat and got a bit of a plan together."
They planned to use ropes and one of their surfing mates to jump in and complete the rescue.
Not long after setting sail, they spotted the dog up on a cliff — desperate to come home.
Hercules swam towards them, being picked up and saved by one of the farmers in the water.
He was safe. And after eating some food, he went straight back to work as if nothing had ever happened.
"It was a team effort," Kibblewhite said.
He called the whole thing an "exciting event".
"It was either shoot him from the top or try and rescue him, so that was the dilemma his owner was in."
Kibblewhite said Hercules was "pretty happy" upon rescue.
"He was licking and jumping up and down — he was an excited sheepdog."
And as for the sheep who started the whole thing… "He's fine," Kibblewhite said.
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