Missing hero dog found after 10 days alone on mountain

A dog hailed as a hero when he alerted climbers to his critically injured owner’s plight after a 150m (450ft) fall from a Snowdonia mountain has himself been rescued after 10 days stuck on the hill. Spaniel type Sutty is believed to have been frightened off when a helicopter rescued his 60-year-old owner in the Ogwen Valley on 29 May.



On Saturday two local people climbing on Atlantic Slabs heard a dog whimpering and found Sutty on a ledge. He was uninjured and was lowered to safety in a rucksack. Chris Lloyd from the Ogwen Valley mountain rescue team said the rock climbers who found the man had also heard the sound of a dog barking. But despite efforts at the time and over the following days, Sutty had not been found.



"Posters had been put up in the area so when a local couple heard whimpering as they climbed on Atlantic Slabs they knew it had to be the missing dog," said Mr Lloyd. "The man, Rob Shepherd, is a member of Llanberis mountain rescue, but he called Ogwen [mountain rescue] because it was on their patch. They got more people to come with additional ropes and the dog was lowered down in his partner Sian Williams' rucksack."


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Mr Lloyd said Sutty had dug a little nest for himself "either to keep warm or to try and keep out of the sun". "He's in remarkably good condition really, although he's probably very thin under all that fur. He was very glad to be rescued." Mr Lloyd said the team then contacted the injured man's daughter, who lives in Wolverhampton, and she and her husband drove straight up to Ogwen for an "emotional reunion". Sutty's owner remains in hospital near his home in Birmingham.