Firefighters rescue Border Collie stuck 30ft up tree

A Staffordshire dog has rivalled the capers of her feline friends by getting stuck up a tree. Belle, an eight-year-old border collie, managed to get stuck 30ft (9m) up the tree on a walk in Cannock Chase.

Owner Kea Jenkins said her "heart filled with dread" when Belle went missing. She was found more than five hours later up the horse chestnut tree. Fire crews used a canvas bag to lower Belle down, watched by other dogs Ms Jenkins had been walking. Ms Jenkins, a dog trainer, was walking eight dogs at the time of the incident.



She said she got people she knew to come and help search for Belle. Ms Jenkins said: "She had run up a part of the tree that was quite steep but wide, a low-slung branch overhanging a farmer's field. The branch she was stuck on was less than eight inches wide and she was dangling with her back legs either side of it. She spent almost six hours up there."

Ms Jenkins said Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service initially thought the call last Friday about the stuck dog was "a hoax", but soon came to help. Firefighter Paul Bowen, one of the rescuers, said: "I have served with Staffs fire service for 34 years and as far as I am aware this is the first time we've had to rescue a dog from a tree."

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