St. Bernard rescued from England's tallest mountain

July 28, 2020

St. Bernard dogs are the ones that traditionally have come to the rescue of humans. But in a reverse of circumstances, humans rescued a St. Bernard after she collapsed while coming down England's highest mountain.

With their great sense of direction and resistance to cold, St. Bernards have been saving people in the mountains since the 18th century, according to the Smithsonian Magazine. But on Friday evening, it was a St. Bernard named Daisy that needed saving from Scafell Pike in North West England after she showed signs of pain in her rear legs and was refusing to move.

Daisy collapsed last Friday while descending from the summit of Scafell Pike in Cumbria, northwest England, so the rescue team scrambled to the scene and carried the 55kg dog down the mountain on a stretcher.

The rescue operation took a total of five hours and 16 team members of the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team.

“A few different tactics needed to be tried until both Daisy and her stretcher bearers were all satisfied and progress down-hill could be made,” the team said in a statement.

Video from the rescue shows Daisy sitting quietly as the rescuers – wearing masks due to the coronavirus pandemic – strapped her to a stretcher and then began the arduous descent. The giant dog appeared relaxed but showed an interest in the rescue operation.

Daisy then “had a good night’s sleep, snoring a little louder than normal, but back to her usual high spirits”, Mountain Rescue said.

8eca1726-041b-4fbd-a63f-c40af2c44de0