Animal

St Bernard dog rescued from England’s highest peak


Daisy the 121lb St Bernard had to be stretchered down the mountain for five hours (Picture: PA)

A St Bernard underwent a role reversal this weekend after being stretchered down a mountain by a 16-strong rescue team.

Volunteers spent nearly five hours rescuing 121lb Daisy after she collapsed while descending from the summit of Scafell Pike, in the Lake District, on Friday evening.

After receiving a call from Cumbria Police, volunteers from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team said they ‘didn’t need to think twice’ about saving the large dog from England’s highest peak.

When the team arrived, Daisy was displaying signs of pain in her rear legs and was refusing to walk down the mountain with her owners, a spokesman said.

The rescue dog had to be rescued by a 16-strong team of volunteers (Picture: PA)

St Bernards are naturally working dogs and were originally bred to rescue people in the Italian and Swiss Alps, meaning Daisy faced the ultimate role reversal as she was stretchered down the mountain to safety.

Although the team are used to saving humans, they adjusted their stretcher to make it ‘dog friendly’ and said Daisy was the ‘perfect casualty’.

A spokesman said: ‘When Cumbria Police contacted us about a St Bernard dog (Daisy), who had collapsed whilst descending from the summit of Scafell Pike and therefore unable to carry on, our members didn’t need to think twice about mobilising and deploying to help retrieve Daisy off England’s highest.’

The team said they sought advice from vets before beginning the rescue operation, meaning they were able to assess Daisy’s condition and administer pain relief before lifting her off the mountain on a stretcher.

Although it took a ‘little persuasion’ to earn Daisy’s trust, she was soon won over with lots of ‘treats’.

Daisy was a little apprehensive at first but soon settled into the stretcher with some treats (Picture: PA)
The journey took hours to get down from England’s highest peak (Picture: PA)
Daisy is now recovering at home from her ordeal (Picture: PA)

The team said: ‘Daisy very quickly settled down with her chin resting on the head guard, having realised that we were trying to help her.

‘From there on, apart from the odd little adjustment, the evacuation was found to be not that much different to a normal adult evacuation which, of course, is the bread and butter of our team, which we have done hundreds of times before.’

Thanks to the team, Daisy and her owners got back safe and the dog is now recovering from her ordeal at home.

The spokesman added: ‘She apparently feels a bit guilty and slightly embarrassed about letting down the image of her cousins bouncing across the Alpine snows with barrels of brandy around their necks.’

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