Rescuers have saved the fourth dog in as many months from the bottom of a notorious Hawke's Bay cliff

The SPCA's specialist animal rescue unit was called out to the tiny settlement of Kotemaori, after a 40-kilogram crossbreed named Lady took a frightening 200 metre tumble down the bank.

It was a race against the clock for rescuers - as Lady landed in a swollen river at the bottom of the gorge, just as a storm started to roll in.

She was brought out just in time - with a few cuts and bruises.

Lady is the fourth dog rescued from the bottom of the cliff, and the sixth dog rescued from the Skudder's Ridge area since May.