Monday, July 27, 2020

UPDATED
Daisy the St. Bernard recovers from her mountain ordeal
yesterday


Volunteers from Wasdale mountain rescue team carry 121lb (55kg) St Bernard dog, Daisy from England's highest peak, Scafell Pike, Sunday July 26, 2020. The mountain rescue team spent nearly five hours rescuing St Bernard dog Daisy, who had collapsed displaying signs of pain in her rear legs and was refusing to move, while descending Scafell Pike. The Wasdale Mountain Rescue team rely on public contributions to their JustGiving.com/wasdalemrt page to fund their mountain safety efforts. (Wasdale Mountain Rescue via AP)


LONDON (AP) — Don’t worry: Daisy — the St. Bernard who reversed mountain rescue conventions — is fine.

The owners of the dog who collapsed while descending England’s tallest mountain says she’s recovering well after a mountain rescue team helped her to safety .

Sixteen volunteers from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team spent nearly five hours rescuing Daisy last week — after the 55 kilogram (121 pound) dog collapsed while descending Scafell Pike.

Daisy was displaying signs of pain in her rear legs and was refusing to move, having decided she had had enough. After consulting with a veterinarian’s office, rescuers administered some pain relief and adjusted a stretcher designed for humans to be dog-friendly.

Daisy needed a bit of persuasion and a few treats before settling down with her chin resting on the head guard of the stretcher as she was carried down. Rescue workers said it wasn’t all that different from lending a hand to humans in trouble.

“I think Daisy probably knows, even though she can’t say it, how grateful she is,” owner Su Hall told the BBC. She and her husband Jason praised the work of the rescue team, all of whom are volunteers.

St Bernard dogs were originally bred to help with rescues in the Alps, but rescuers say Daisy proved the perfect casualty as she was hauled down Scafell Pike, which is 978 meters (3,209 feet) above sea level and is located in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria.

“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,” rescue leader Phil Hall said in his Facebook post on the matter.


Volunteers from Wasdale mountain rescue team take turns to carry 121lb (55kg) St Bernard dog, Daisy from England's highest peak, Scafell Pike, Sunday July 26, 2020. The mountain rescue team spent nearly five hours rescuing St Bernard dog Daisy, who had collapsed displaying signs of pain in her rear legs and was refusing to move, while descending Scafell Pike. The Wasdale Mountain Rescue team rely on public contributions to their JustGiving.com/wasdalemrt page to fund their mountain safety efforts. (Wasdale Mountain Rescue via AP)

Sixteen volunteers from Wasdale mountain rescue team take turns to carry 121lb (55kg) St Bernard dog, Daisy from England's highest peak, Scafell Pike, Sunday July 26, 2020. The mountain rescue team spent nearly five hours rescuing St Bernard dog Daisy, who had collapsed displaying signs of pain in her rear legs and was refusing to move, while descending Scafell Pike. The Wasdale Mountain Rescue team rely on public contributions to their JustGiving.com/wasdalemrt page to fund their mountain safety efforts. (Wasdale Mountain Rescue via AP)


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


Jane Dalton @JournoJane

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.”




St Bernard rescued from England’s highest mountain

Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team were called to Scafell Pike to rescue Daisy the St Bernard – a breed originally bred to rescue people in the Alps.

Monday 27 July, 2020


Daisy being rescued.
Image: PA

A MOUNTAIN RESCUE team said its members “didn’t need to think twice” when they were called to help a 121lb (55kg) St Bernard which had collapsed while descending England’s highest peak.

Sixteen volunteers from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team spent nearly five hours rescuing Daisy from Scafell Pike after receiving a call from Cumbria Police.

The team said the dog was displaying signs of pain in her rear legs and was refusing to move as she came down from the summit of the mountain with her owners on Friday evening.

A spokesman said: “Having team members with their own pampered pooches at home, and also our very own much-adored search dog Jess, we recognise the distress that both an animal can feel and also that of their owners.

“Therefore … 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 and were able to assess Daisy’s condition and administer pain relief before lifting her off the mountain on a stretcher.

They said: “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.

“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.”


St Bernard dogs were originally bred to help with rescues in the Alps in Italy and Switzerland but the team said Daisy was the “perfect casualty” and is now recovering from her own rescue ordeal.

The spokesman said: “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.”

The team thanked West Lakeland Veterinary Group and Galemire Veterinary Hospital for their advice and support during the rescue.

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