St Bernard mountain rescue dog rescued – from mountain

‘She feels embarrassed about letting down the image of her cousins bouncing across Alpine snow with barrels of brandy around their necks,’ say team

St Bernard dogs have long offered invaluable support in reaching people stranded in precarious mountain emergencies.

So rescuers in Cumbria had a big surprise when they received a call saying one of the breed itself was stuck and needed their help.

Daisy, a St Bernard weighing 8st 9lb (55kg), collapsed while being walked down England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike, after showing signs of pain in the legs, and was refusing to move.

Sixteen members of the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team had to win the dog’s trust by using treats, before they could administer a painkiller – on a vet’s advice – then begin the rescue operation.

St Bernards, known for their size, were originally bred to rescue people in the Italian and Swiss Alps.

The rescue took five hours as the team carried Daisy on a stretcher over obstacles including a waterfall.

The team wrote on Facebook that as members have their own pampered pooches at home they didn’t think twice about swinging into action when they received the call.

“A few different tactics needed to be tried until both Daisy and her stretcher-bearers were all satisfied and progress could be made. It had become quickly apparent that Daisy’s cooperation was going to be essential if we were to make progress as Daisy made sure we knew that if she didn’t want to do something, she wasn’t going to do it,” they wrote.

“However, after a little persuasion and a bit of arranging the stretcher to become dog-friendly and of course plenty more treats, the 55kg Daisy very quickly settled down with her chin resting on the head guard, having realised that we were trying to help her.”

The rescue then was not very different from rescuing a person, they said.

After a night’s sleep, the four-year-old dog was back in high spirits, the team reported, adding: “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.”