Cyclone Gabrielle: ‘Handy’ Andy O’Sullivan rescues beloved dog Zeus

A true team effort helped save Zeus the dog near the Mohaka River on Saturday.

‘Handy’ Andy O’Sullivan is a man of many talents.

Sole-charge constable at Kotemaori, near Wairoa, O’Sullivan had to summon all his skills to save the life of Zeus last Saturday.

That’s when Zeus - aka Fatboy - went missing near the Mohaka River.

His frantic owners searched high and low for their beloved dog, finally sending up a drone. That’s how they eventually located Zeus, stuck high on a cliff.

O’Sullivan was in the midst of a double shift - in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle - when Zeus’ owners arrived at the station. An experienced abseiler, trained arborist and veteran of a few canine rescues, he was the ideal man to save the day.

“I climbed down to where I could safely, but I had no way to anchor my abseiling rope. The rope just wasn’t long enough to attach to roadside trees or barriers and I was worried that if the river levels grew again, Zeus would be swept away. I made a call to the Tree Control guys who were in the region to see if they would assist,” O’Sullivan told the Eastern District Police Facebook page.

Tree Control are a Tauranga-based company who were assisting with the post-cyclone clean-up.

It was 8.30pm by then and just about dark, but Rob Duytshoff from Tree Control lept into action once O’Sullivan called.

Tree Control staff member Billy Carter abseiled down the steep hillside over the cliff and into a 90-metre ravine to retrieve Zeus. The rescue itself took about 40 minutes, before Zeus was handed to O’Sullivan.

The constable soon realised how Zeus had earned his nickname as he carried the dog up the hillside to his hugely relieved owners.

The Eastern District Police reported that, following a thorough vet check, Zeus was able to return home and was soon showing no signs of his ordeal.