A 55kg canine has earned international fame after a ‘woof’ ride getting stuck on England’s highest mountain.
Daisy, a four-year-old St.Bernard, has become a global star after Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team (WMRT) had to stretcher the animal off Scafell Pike.
The rescue has attracted so much international media attention that WMRT has had donations towards their operations totalling £4,000.
Richard Warren, chairman of the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association said: “We’ve already received over £4,000 as a direct result of the incident.
“Mountain rescue teams are purely voluntary and survive on generous donations from supporters.
“We’ve had messages come in from news agencies in America, Italy, New Zealand.
“We’ve been on front pages and in lead stories. We went on the BBC six o’clock news and BBC Worldwide.
“It’s been a busy period just dealing with all the media enquiries.”
The rescue team was called to Daisy’s aid after she displayed pain in her rear legs and refused to move on her family’s descent from Scafell.
After much coaxing and a lot of treats the sixteen volunteers managed to make Daisy comfortable on a stretcher before embarking on the long journey back down the mountain.
The unusual rescue mission eventually ended up taking almost five hours.
“They were coming off the top of Scafell Pike and Daisy decided to have a rest,” said Mr Warren.
“When they decided to go again they got up but Daisy didn’t want to.
“They tried everything and they realised she wasn’t going to move.
“You can’t pick up a 55 kilogram St. Bernard and put it in your rucksack.”
In a statement Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team said the operation had not been too dissimilar to a human rescue, although it did present its own challenges.
“We had to strap her on the stretcher so she wouldn’t fall over or jump off,” said Mr Warren.
“We had to turn the head guard around 180 degrees so that helped her stay on.
“It was a very successful evacuation.
“When we rescue animals we take the same care and attention as we would with people.”
Mr Warren has encouraged those wishing to pursue similar excursions to visit www.adventuresmart.uk, which has lots of information on how to keep people safe on the mountains.
Daisy is safely back at home in Lincolnshire with owners Su and Jason Hall, who have expressed their thanks to Daisy’s rescuers.
In one interview, they said rescue teams had been ‘fantastic’.
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