She only returned when given food – relatable
Animal rescuers in the UK used a drone with a sausage attached to it to save a stranded dog from a perilous situation.
Jack Russell-whippet cross Millie was able to break free from her leash in Havant, Hampshire before disappearing into the distance. After several public appeals, Millie was spotted on mudflats – areas of swampy mud that are considered dangerous to humans, let alone good doggos.
Millie resisted being saved at first, with rescuers believing it was due to the overall stress of the situation. The dog managed to evade police, firefighters and the coastguard – but time was running out as the tide was due to come in.
But then someone had the most ingenious idea ever: tie a sausage to a drone.
“It was a crazy idea,” said Chris Taylor, the Denmead Drone Search and Rescue Team chair.
Before setting the drone off on its rescue mission, rescue teams checked the regulations of the Civil Aviation Authority and the weight restrictions.
Taylor explained: “One of the local residents on the beach where we were flying from supplied us with the sausages – I think they were from Aldi.”
The woman was kind enough to cook them and then they attached the bait to string to hang from the drone.
“If we hadn’t had got her away from that area the tide would have come in and she would have been at risk of drowning,” said Taylor.
“It was something we had never tried before – the sausages were the last resort, as we couldn’t reach her by kayak or any other means.
“Because Millie was hungry it worked at luring her away from the danger to higher ground, which wouldn’t go underwater.”
Taylor said he would consider using sausages again despite “every dog and search operation is always going to be different.”
He added: “But if we were ever in a similar situation again we would employ the same methods to lure the dog.”
Upon rescuing Millie, she was able to make another run for it but her owner Emma Oakes was able to catch her once more when her father coaxed her back.
Oakes said: “Relief just poured over me. It was just absolutely fantastic to have her home.”
On Millie’s impeccable eating habits, Oakes said “she’ll eat anything you give her… raw carrots, cucumber – but she much prefers sausages.
“Meat is her favourite food, so dangling a sausage was probably the best thing they could lure her with.”
Her owner explained that Millie is a rescue dog and loves being “more than anything” at home.
She added: “She just sleeps and eats and looks at you as if to say: ‘I’m resting, leave me alone.'”
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