LONDON, ON — 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 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 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.
