Blind dog’s forest ordeal ends in Hogmanay cheer
HE SPENT three terrifying days and nights cold, hungry and alone in thick forest, but there was Hogmanay cheer as Jack was safely returned to his family.
Jack, an ageing and totally blind border collie, was outside for his midnight pre-bedtime routine at his home near Lochgair on Thursday December 29 when he disappeared.
His owners, Joan McRoberts and Billy Sharp, later discovered that he had crossed the A83 trunk road to reach a forestry plantation. They believe he became disorientated in thick undergrowth and wet weather, and headed in the wrong direction - away from his home at East Kames.
Though blind from birth, Jack is a former working sheep- dog. Joan took him on aged around two from a farm near Oban, and estimates he might be 16 years old.
Worried sick and after a fruitless night-long search, Joan turned to social media on Friday to ask people to look out for their missing dog. She told The Advertiser: ‘We got an unbelievable response from people, most of whom are complete strangers.
Searching
‘Folk were turning up to look for him, and the police were out searching for two days.’
By the time Hogmanay arrived on Saturday, any hope was slim among the searchers.
The weather was foul - wet and cold.
‘We could hardly walk, we’d searched so much,’ Joan explained. ‘I was certain we weren’t going to get him back, and that he was lying at the bottom of a cliff or hit by a car.’
Then, 10 minutes before the bells to ring in the New Year, Jack came home.
Joan said: ‘He was spotted and picked up by a lovely Lochgilphead guy called Graham Brown about 11.30pm on Hogmanay. He was found on the main road just at Loch gair. I think he’d been lost in the forest and the shouting all day led him down to the road.
‘I honestly don’t think he would have survived another night out there.’
He was weak, but soon regained strength in the care of his family.
‘He couldn’t walk for about 24 hours after he came home,’ said Joan, ‘and it was little and often with his food to begin with – but by the time Tuesday came I think he would have eaten us if he could have.
‘I still don’t know why he headed into the woods, but we are so pleased to have him home, I can’t explain it.’ She added: ‘I just want to thank everyone who helped. This was a real community effort, and I just don’t think you would get that in too many places.’