A farmer has been reunited with his sheepdog days after it got lost on England’s highest mountain while chasing a female dog and ended up in Scotland.
The collie cross, called Sid, was found by hikers Briony Beckerley and Daniel Cope at the top of Scafell Pike, a 3,209ft peak in the Lake District.
They took the hungry dog to their home in Ayrshire, Scotland, before handing him in at the Scottish SPCA rehoming centre in Glasgow, which released an appeal for information about him on Friday.
Top dog: Collie cross, Sid, has been reuinted with his owner after he got lost on England's highest mountain
And yesterday Sid, who they had nicknamed Scafell after the mountain where he was found, was finally returned to his owner.
Miss Beckerley, a receptionist, said: ‘You just don’t expect to see a lone dog up there, it was quite a surprise. He was absolutely petrified and it took us a while to gain his trust by feeding him.
‘We searched around the area for his owners but we had no luck. So eventually I picked him up and we carried him down the mountain with us until he could walk the rest of the way.
‘We were shocked as to how a dog could have got to such a remote area. Judging by how thin he was he could have been there for days.’
The frail male Collie cross was found wandering England’s highest mountain – the 3,209ft Scafell Pike in the Lake District (file picture of a dog and its owner at the top of the peak)
Briony Beckerley and Daniel Cope were surprised to discover the dog had beat them to the summit, and unable to find the dog’s owners, they decided to carry him down the mountain to give him the warmth, food and comfort he so clearly needed
The couple, both 24 and avid hikers, reached the top of Scafell Pike in the Lake District on Saturday.
Miss Beckerley said: ‘We tried to ring the RSPCA but their out-of-hours office was shut and we just couldn’t leave him there, so we decided to ditch our camping gear and hire a cottage so he could get a good rest.
‘We made sure to feed and water him a lot and we nicknamed him Scafell because I wanted him to trust us and know we were there to help.’
On their return to Scotland, they rang the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which took Scafell to a vet for a check-up.
Centre assistant manager Katrina Cavanagh said: ‘Unfortunately, Sid wasn’t microchipped so we couldn’t contact his owner directly. Thankfully, he came forward following our appeal.
‘The owner is a local sheep farmer...He believes Sid took off after a bitch in season and had been looking for him.’
She added: ‘While he was surprised when he found out Sid was in Scotland, he was also very relieved he was safe.’
Sid is thought to have taken off after a female dog and got lost at the top of Scafell Pike, a 3,209ft peak in the Lake District
Sid wasn’t microchipped so the Scottish SPCA couldn't contact his owner directly but he came forward following our appeal
