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BAY VILLAGE, Ohio -- A partially blind dog, who had been rescued from a Los Angeles street gang's drug house, cheated death again Wednesday morning when he fell down a 40-foot cliff and was rescued by firefighters.

Dino, a 6-year-old, 110-pound American bulldog, was being treated by a veterinarian after Bay Village firefighters rappelled down a sheer cliff and pulled the dog to safety.

Lt. Jim Schmitz said the dog was playing in its yard on Lake Street that borders the cliff when he got out of the fence. The owner, Conni Zezza, said the dog got too close to the edge and fell.

"We don't know if the ground gave way or if he just went over, but he had quite a fall," Schmitz said. "It took our guys 90 minutes to get him up because he was so big. We kept trying different methods until one worked."

Schmitz said they first tried to get Dino into a basket, but the dog would have no part of that. Finally, they used webbing to wrap him up. He was pulled up from the top, using a pulley system, while the two firefighters assisted by the cliff.

Zezza said Dino had been used as a guard dog at a drug house in Watts.

"He had a horrible life," she said. "The drug dealers beat him, used him in fights and hurt him badly. His jaw was broken, his collar was pulled so tightly that he went blind in one eye. He was taken out of the house and was literally minutes away from being euthanized when he was rescued by the group Ace of Hearts."

Zezza, who works with the rescue group, took in Dino three years ago. Her family fell in love with him, and they kept him.

"He's gone from being a ghetto dog to a star," she said. "He still has some issues. They used to get drugs delivered by UPS, so he still gets nervous when he sees a UPS delivery person. He was extremely aggressive at first but has calmed down. He still has issues. I walked in the room with a measuring cup, and he cowered and cried in the corner when he saw it. We don't know all he's been through."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: msangiacomo@plaind.com, 216-999-4890