Photo by Eugene Driscoll
Charlie takes a moment to snuggle.
SEYMOUR — Firefighters rescued a dog stuck on a cliff 100 feet above Roosevelt Drive Tuesday (March 30).
Charlie, a 3‑year-old border collie/Australian Shepherd mix, was limp after being plucked from the ledge by firefighters from Hamden who are specially trained in technical rescues.
Charlie was able to stand and his own once on steady ground — and then he closed his eyes briefly to rest his head on owner Danielle Capozziello’s shoulder. She had been waiting patiently with her family, including her young daughter — along with people who had learned of Charlie’s disappearance through Facebook.
Charlie was taken to a local veterinarian to get checked out.
Photo by Eugene Driscoll
Good boy!
The dog went missing five days ago. The Capozziellos used Facebook to ask people to be on the lookout.
On Tuesday morning, a woman messaged the family on Facebook saying they could hear an animal crying in the woods in the area of 222 Roosevelt Drive, not far from Charlie’s house.
“Somebody on Facebook messaged us and said she heard howling that does not sound like a coyote,” Capozziello said.
The Capozziellos and others went searching for Charlie Tuesday morning in the woods along Roosevelt Drive.
They could hear Charlie crying but could not see him. They figured out he was stuck above them, in a spot along a cliff that they could not reach. They called the Seymour Fire Department called around 10:15 a.m.
Charlie was tucked away on a rock ledge that was tough to spot from Roosevelt Drive. The land in that area is treacherous: boulders, sheer rock outcroppings, mud, a steep hill, mature trees knocked down from a 2018 wind storm — and thick layers of wet leaves that made it like walking on glass, according to Woobridge Animal Control Officer Karen Lombardi (Woodbridge covers animal calls in Seymour).
Photo by Eugene Driscoll
The view up the steep hill from Roosevelt Drive in Seymour.
Seymour firefighters, under the command of Seymour Fire Department Deputy Chief Chris Edwards, set up a command post on Partridge Drive, a cul-de-sac at the top of the hill above Roosevelt Drive.
A number of firefighters were sent to search for Charlie while his family and new friends waited. People from the neighborhood dropped off water and snacks. John Oczkowski, a Seymour canine officer, stopped by to help. He appeared to be off duty. Another resident offered a leash and vest for the animal in case firefighters needed it.
Eventually the firefighters pinpointed Charlie’s location — but there was no safe way to reach him from their vantage point.
“He’s on a cliff. We have ears on him, but we can’t see him,” Deputy Chief Chris Edwards told The Valley Indy at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Seymour FD called a rescue crew from the Hamden Fire Department, who were able to rappel down the rock from the Partridge Drive side to get down to Charlie.
Photo by Eugene Driscoll
A Seymour firefighter loads up Hamden firefighters to head into the woods.
He was then carried down — carefully — to Roosevelt Drive, where his family was waiting. Click here for more photos of the rescue.
Fox 61 captured impressive video of the rescue. The article continues below.
Capozziello said she was grateful to everyone who helped.
“This brings out the best in everybody,” she said.
Photo by Eugene Driscoll
Seymour Fire Department Deputy Chief Chris Edwards, center, coordinated the response.
