Police, firefighters, river rescue workers and animal control officers proved to be two dogs' best friends yesterday when they rescued the trapped canines from a 75-foot hillside in Avalon.

The two husky mixes, whose owners are unknown, were hot, exhausted and scared but otherwise unharmed by their two-hour ordeal, said Avalon Animal Control Officer Lois Cummins.

"They're safe and sound. They're perfectly fine," Ms. Cummins said.

That result wasn't a certainty earlier in the day.

The incident began about 11 a.m. when Avalon police Officer Bob Espy contacted Ms. Cummins to report two dogs running loose on Ohio River Boulevard near an Eat 'n Park restaurant.

She couldn't find them, but Officer Espy radioed to tell her he'd driven down below the nearby hill and could see the dogs midway up the embankment. One dog was on a ledge and the other above it.

"They were just terrified and weren't moving," Ms. Cummins said.

Avalon and Bellevue firefighters responded but because of heavy vegetation couldn't see the dogs from above. From below, Officer Espy likewise was hampered by the overgrowth in giving directions to the firefighters above him.

But by chance, off-duty Avalon police Officer Matt McDanel was taking part in a river rescue training session with Northwest Technical Rescue when he heard the call. He and Scott George took their boat up the Ohio, manuevering it until they could see both the dogs and an access point on top of the hill. They radioed directions to the firefighters and then hustled to join them.

Officer McDanel, Mr. George, Bellevue Assistant Fire Chief Randy Dailey, and Bellevue firefighters Jack Davin and Jerry Lundy rappelled down the hillside and called to the dogs. A black- and-brown dog with blue eyes ran to one of the firemen, but a yellow dog with blue eyes remained on the ledge until its rescuers reached it. Avalon firefighters pulled them all to safety.

Veterinary technician Dolly Archey gave the dogs a quick once-over before they were taken to Spencer and Friends Animal Rescue in Avalon. There they enjoyed baths to cool off and to wash off oil from poison ivy they encountered on the embankment.

Should no one claim the dogs within 48 hours, they will be checked by a veterinarian, implanted with a microchip and offered for adoption.

Anyone with information about the animals or their owners is asked to call the rescue center at 412-734-0810.