Dog Rescue How far would you go to save your beloved pet? Ivan Salas, 19, recently proved that he would do whatever it takes. He and his father were hiking in the mountains in California when the dad tossed a bottle of water off the cliff.
 
The family dog, Lola, accustomed to being helpful in every way, leaped to "fetch' the bottle ended up sliding 100 feet down the steep cliff. Seeing his beloved dog in peril, the son did some quick thinking. Or, I should say, he didn’t think at all: He just leaped off the cliff after the dog.
 
What happened next? It's a cliffhanger. Literally.

Ivan grabbed a rock, grabbed Lola, and waited, perched perilously high above solid ground as his dog shivered with fear. Onlookers called 911, the local news began a nail-biting vigil, and the LAPD arrived in a helicopter -- but had to back off, fearing the whapping blades would just let loose a landslide that’d bring them down, and not in a Stevie Nicks way.

The whole time, Salas clung to the side of the cliff. When he saw the helicopter approach and retreat, he says he nearly lost hope and thought he was going to die. Finally, firefighters rappelled down the side of the cliff and carried him -- and Lola -- to safety. Actually, they took Lola first, then Salas, but that's probably because the dog couldn't be reassured everything was going to be all right. The ordeal took a sickeningly, terrifying 90 minutes.

People. It's lovely that this guy loves his dog so much, but this story could have had an absolutely horrifying ending. Years ago -- maybe even 20 -- a woman jumped into the Hudson River in New York to save her dog, and ended up drowning herself (I think the dog was actually saved). This still haunts me.

On the other hand, I don't think I could just stand by if my pet were in peril, so I get it. I just don't know what I'd do if my kid were the one on that cliff.

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Would you leap off a cliff to save your dog? What if your 19-year-old son did?

Image via ABC News