Dog rescued after falling through snow ledge and surviving freezing night on Highlands mountainside
It is believed Aggie survived the brutal night, where temperatures plummeted to below minus 10C with wind chill, by curling into a ball on an exposed corrie
A three-year-old cocker spaniel has been dramatically rescued after spending a freezing night alone on a Scottish Highlands mountainside, following a perilous fall through a snowy ledge.
Aggie, the intrepid canine, was part of a group of walkers and dogs that encountered difficulty on Fionn Bheinn near Achnasheen on Sunday.
The group plunged through a cornice – an overhanging snow ledge – close to the 933-metre munro's summit. While the hillwalkers and most of the dogs managed to descend safely, Aggie remained missing despite an initial search, prompting fears for her survival in the sub-zero conditions.
It is believed Aggie survived the brutal night, where temperatures plummeted to below minus 10C with wind chill, by curling into a ball on an exposed corrie. Three dedicated members of the Dundonnell Mountain Rescue team volunteered to return to the mountain on Monday, successfully continuing the search and bringing the spaniel to safety.
A local deer stalker helped them up the hill and they were able to locate Aggie, who was “a little cold”.
The mountain rescue team said in a social media post: “Monday morning three team members gave up their free time and turned out not as mountain rescuers but as pet owners to help the dogs owners search for the missing pup.
“The local deer stalker was able to transport the hill party up high onto the hill and after searching for a while happily they located the pup not to far from where it was last seen, she was alive and well if a little cold.”
Iain Nesbitt, the Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team’s leader, helped the group of four hillwalkers on Sunday.
He said three members of the team returned to the mountain in their own time on Monday, as they were dog lovers and could not bear the thought of Aggie being left behind.
Mr Nesbitt told Press Association: “You’ve got a horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach, it’s like you’ve left a member of your family there.”
Conditions on the corrie would have been “very wintery” overnight with whiteout conditions, he said.
One member of the mountain rescue team located Aggie on the corrie, around 10 metres from the ridge where the group fell.
Mr Nesbitt said Aggie had curled up into a ball and was “just sitting waiting”, though bit the rescuer who reached her first.
The team leader said: “It’s always amazing how resilient dogs are, they go into survival mode.”
He said the fall had been a “freak accident” and thanked those who had helped with the rescue.
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