‘MY DOG RAN AWAY AND TOOK THE TRAIN TO CARDIFF’
A DOG escaped from his Valleys home, walked to a railway station and then caught a train to Cardiff on his own.
Staffordshire bull terrier Clyde went missing from his home in Penpedairheol, near Ystrad Mynach, at 7am last Monday – marking the start of his 21-mile adventure.
The four-year-old dog walked almost two miles to Hengoed railway station, where he managed to get on a train to Cardiff.
Owner Joanne Davies, 43, said her son had let their dog Bonnie out into the back garden with Clyde early that morning.
But a blustery night had blown a side gate open, allowing Clyde to escape.
The intrepid pet was first spotted wandering near railway tracks by two teenage schoolboys, who encouraged Clyde to leave the tracks. But he then ran off again.
Clyde next managed to get onto the platform at Hengoed railway station, where he boarded a train to Cardiff.
While he was on the southbound train, he was befriended by passengers including one kind animal lover who dried him off with her scarf.
Worried owner Joanne said although Clyde is microchipped she decided to post an appeal on Facebook.
A passenger saw the appeal and notified the train conductor, who put Clyde in the driver’s compartment for the remainder of the journey.
Clyde was later handed to British Transport Police at Cardiff Central railway station, where he was reunited with Joanne – and taken back home within three hours of his escape.
Arriva Trains Wales conductor Simon Fish said: “Clyde joined the train at Hengoed and was clearly very scared.
“He’d been on the tracks and fortunately some teenagers had been able to coax him back to the platform. One passenger recognised his description from Facebook and I made contact with the owner en route.
“She wouldn’t have been able to get to Caerphilly as we were going past so I made arrangements for the British Transport Police to collect him at Cardiff Central.
“I was just proud to be able to reunite Clyde with his owners safely.”
A British Transport Police spokeswoman said: “We believe Clyde was travelling without a valid ticket for his journey, but given the circumstances and having heard the tail of his ordeal, we won’t give him a ruff time about it.
“We are very pleased that Clyde was safely returned home from his adventure and grateful to everyone who was involved in helping him.”
IT sales worker Joanne said: “There were a lot of people helping out that morning. The passengers on the train, the two boys and of course the conductor who managed to keep him on the train.
“There were a lot of dog lovers around that day who wanted to reunite Clyde with Bonnie, and for that I will be forever grateful.”