Puppy rescued from canyon

SALT LAKE CITY — A puppy rescued from the bowels of a deep slot canyon in southern Utah is now recovering in Salt Lake City after a close brush with death.

The man who saved the dog documented much of the rescue with his own video camera, meaning he not only snatched the dying dog from a deep canyon all by himself and climbed out by using a rope, but he also shot video while doing it.

Today, the puppy is a temporary shop-dog at The Wrench-It-Center, a Salt Lake repair shop owned by the dog's rescuer, Zak Anderegg.

"He was completely starved," Anderegg said of the dog when he first spotted him. "He was, my best guess, 24 to 48 hours from being dead."

That was last week in a slot canyon near the Utah-Arizona border. It's so deep and narrow and twisted, some sections are dark in the middle of the day.

Sometimes by flashlight, Anderegg was rappelling and climbing deep. He suddenly saw a dog, starving, dehydrated.

"I cannot believe I found this guy down in this frickin' pothole in this canyon," he said.

He climbed out to get water. On the way back down he wondered how the puppy got there.

"The rim of the canyon is 350 feet above us, so falling from the rim would have killed him," Anderegg said. "Every single time I work it through my head, I come up with the same answer: someone put him there" — left, abandoned.

Unable to reach the dog, Anderegg climbed out again and drove to Page, Ariz., to recruit a rescue team.

"They told me flat-out, 'We're certainly not going to send out the fire department or the sheriff's department to help you.' So I said, 'All right, I'll manage on my own.'"

The next morning he was back with a cat carrier and a plan, using ropes in a one-man rescue operation.

"I took risks," Anderegg said. "But none above what I do anyway."

He rigged up a system to attach the cat carrier to his ropes and stabilized it. Then he climbed back out.

The Page Animal Hospital saved puppy's life. Most of the costs were covered by the hospital's Angel Fund.

"The rate of improvement is just incredible," Anderegg said. "I'd say within two weeks he'll be at his weight."

Anderegg and his wife Michelle still haven't decided whether to keep the puppy, since they're already a pet-heavy family.

They welcome inquiries from qualified people who can give him a good home, and they're encouraging contributions to the Angel Fund for future emergencies.

Email: hollenhorst@ksl.com