Avid hiker rescues dog that plunged 30 feet into lava crack on the Big Island

By Kristen Consillio

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    HAWAII COUNTY, Hawaii (KITV) — When a hunting dog named Misty fell 30 feet down into a lava crack outside the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kawika Singson didn’t hesitate to come to her rescue.

“In a crack very narrow because these volcanic fissures, a lot of them are very narrow fissures that go down deep and you cannot see the bottom,” he said.

Her owner knew Singson had rescued dogs before from social media and called him for help. After about nine hours, the avid hiker rappelled down the dark fissure, putting a harness on Misty, helping to lift her up to safety.

“The dog was a bit scared and she was crying,” Singson said. “She wanted to get out really bad. You couldn’t see it in the video, but there’s some blood on the wall from her paws trying to scrape her way out.”

He said it was mind over matter.

“That other part being in a little crack, that’s the mental part. But over time, over the years you learn to overcome things like that,” he said. “My primary objective was to go get the dog.”

All the while, doing it from the kindness of his heart. While the dog’s owner did give him money for gas because he lives two hours away, Singson said he doesn’t charge for rescues.

“I told him, you know, you’re very gifted and blessed because there’s not like a lot of people that would do what you do,” said Misty’s owner Cody Gomes. “Especially out of the kindness of their heart. I had no words to explain how grateful and thankful I was.”

Kawika said the rescue was enough.

“I can feel the dog, all the tension that was in the dog goes away and I can feel it when I’m holding the dog and that right there that’s payment for me,” he said. “The dog takes a sigh of relief, he’s safe now essentially.”

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