Dog found stuck in deer fence after getting lost

A TAYSIDE man is paw-sibly the happiest man in town after his dog was found stuck in a deer fence — three days after going missing while on a walk.

Kevin Gibb had been walking his black lab Jock with family and friends at Ben Vrackie near Pitlochry when the pup was spooked by a pair of passing dirt bikes.

The eight-month-old bolted into the woods, sparking a search across the area by Kevin, his pals and a number of locals.

Three days later, Jock was found stuck in a deer fence a short distance away.

The 28-year-old told the Tele: “It was Jock’s first time up the hill. I let him off the lead for a bit and he was quite happy.

“A couple of bikes went past and he was a wee bit ruffled by that. He shot off and he was gone.”

Kevin and his family spent the rest of the afternoon searching the area before contacting police and putting out appeals.

The SSE worker went out all the next day to try to find Jock, searching around the Pitlochry area close to where the pup had last been seen.

Then the following morning he received a glimmer of hope — a local farmer called to say he had seen Jock but hadn’t been able to track him down.

Kevin added: “After that, a woman called Jill contacted us to say she had seen Jock stuck at a deer fence.

“He wasn’t too far from where we had lost him — stuck in a deer fence close to what the locals called the kissing gate.”

Now back home in Kingoodie, Jock has made a full recovery.

Kevin added: “He’s fine now. He was a bit skittish for the first couple of days, barking at people and that sort of thing, but he had been through a lot.

“He’d lost a bit of weight too but he was never a big dog, so he’s put that all back on now.

“I’m so grateful to everyone who helped search for him. There were about 12 of us out there on the first day looking for him and my friend Scott Davidson was out every day with me.

“We had a lot of support from our friends and family and we have got him back now, which is the main thing.”

Kevin added that he wasn’t angry with the bikers for spooking Jock and making him run off.