Dog lost for a week in New Zealand bush found after strangers fund US$6,300 air search

A volunteer holds Molly (right) and Bingo at a waterfall on the Arahura River on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand on Tuesday.

Photo: Precision Helicopters/AP When a hiker fell from a 55-metre (180-foot) waterfall in wild New Zealand bush, rescuers were forced to evacuate the badly hurt woman without her dog, which could not be found.

After strangers raised thousands of dollars for a search, border collie Molly was flown to safety by a helicopter pilot who was determined to reunite pet and owner.

A week earlier, an emergency rescue helicopter found Jessica Johnston with bruises and lacerations after a fall at a rocky spot at the waterfall on the South Island’s West Coast.

She was airlifted on March 24, but they were forced to leave without her pet.

Molly was bedraggled and hungry when she was found Tuesday, just a few metres from the spot where the hiker had been lucky to survive. “I contacted her in hospital and said I’d go for a look for it,” said Matt Newton, the owner-operator of Precision Helicopters New Zealand, which is based at Hokitika Gorge near the Arahura River where Molly went missing. “I went and looked for the dog several times and no avail.” Molly is reunited with her owner, Jessica Johnston, after being rescued from a waterfall on the Arahura River in New Zealand on Tuesday.

Photo: Precision Helicopters/AP Unwilling to give up, Newton and his family launched a fundraiser to pay for more flying hours and advanced search gear.

Offers of help and donations poured in, with strangers pledging more than NZ$11,000 (US$6,300) for a search.

It was enough to fund three more hours in a helicopter using thermal imaging equipment.

On Tuesday, Newton took to the skies with a veterinary nurse, volunteer searchers and a dog named Bingo in a renewed search for Molly. “We struck jackpot within about an hour,” he said. “As we made our way up the river, we could see the dog in the thermal and then we could visually see it.” There had been no sign of Molly at the waterfall when Newton previously searched the spot, he said.

It was not clear if the dog had also fallen from the waterfall or if she had eventually made her way to the spot where her injured owner landed.

The helicopter dropped low enough for a volunteer to disembark with the rescue dog, Bingo, to help coax Molly to safety and keep her calm.

Volunteer Wayne Holmes collects Molly from the edge of a waterfall as his dog, Bingo, watches on Tuesday.

Photo: Precision Helicopte

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