Things Look Grim as Rising Tide Cuts Rescuers Off from Stranded Dog...Then the Pooch Sees a Flying Sausage
A little imagination and a flying sausage helped bring a British dog back from a dangerous predicament.
At the center of all the excitement was Millie, a Jack Russell-whippet mix who had wandered out onto the mudflats in Havant, Hampshire, and had no interest in any suggestions she come back, The Guardian reported Thursday.
Millie could not stay where she was because the tide would come in and potentially drown her, but rescuers could not reach her.
Enter technology to the rescue in the form of a drone.
“It was a crazy idea,” said Chris Taylor of Denmead Drone Search and Rescue, according to the Guardian.
They had drones for the search. They checked the Civil Aviation Authority rules. They calculated how much weight they could attach to a scouting drone.
Then they needed bait.
“One of the local residents on the beach where we were flying from supplied us with the sausages,” Taylor said. “The woman cooked them up for us and we attached them with string.”
As the drone approached, Millie eyed the sausage — and followed it to higher ground.
“If we hadn’t had got her away from that area the tide would have come in and she would have been at risk of drowning,” Taylor said. “It was something we had never tried before – the sausages were the last resort, as we couldn’t reach her by kayak or any other means.”
The escapade has given rescuers one more trick they can use in future cases.
“Because Millie was hungry, it worked at luring her away from the danger to higher ground, which wouldn’t go underwater,” Taylor said. “We certainly would consider using sausages again: Every dog and search operation is always going to be different, but if we were ever in a similar situation again we would employ the same methods to lure the dog.”
Millie was not quite done roaming, though, and led searchers on a chase before finally leaping into the arms of the father of her owner.
“Relief just poured over me. It was just absolutely fantastic to have her home,” said Emma Oakes, Millie’s owner.
“Millie really likes food and she’ll eat anything you give her … raw carrots, cucumber – but she much prefers sausages. Meat is her favorite food, so dangling a sausage was probably the best thing they could lure her with,” Oakes said.
She said the jaunt was the exception for her dog.
“Millie’s a rescue dog so she’s quite timid. She loves being at home more than anything and now she’s back all she’s doing is sleeping. She just sleeps and eats and looks at you as if to say: ‘I’m resting, leave me alone,’” Oakes said.
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