'Miracle' recovery of dog who escaped on motorway

A dog owner has praised volunteers for their help in the "miracle" recovery of her dachshund, which went missing after escaping onto a motorway.

Two-year-old Mabel sparked a huge search on Friday after slipping her collar at Leigh Delamare services before running onto the M4 towards incoming traffic.

Her owners Lucy Rogers and Jordan Goss, both 23, had stopped at the services before starting the final leg of their house move from Lowestoft, Suffolk, to Highbridge, Somerset.

Describing the moment Mabel ran towards the busy motorway, Rogers said: "I pretty much blacked out. I was just screaming. I didn't even know what to do."

Joined by others who had seen Mabel escape, Goss ran after her towards the M4, and eventually along the hard shoulder.

"He tried as best as he could to get her, but obviously the state she was in - she's gone into fight or flight mode and she was just like a completely different dog," said Rogers.

A number of cars also pulled onto the hard shoulder to help recover Mabel but were unable to catch her before she fled out of sight.

The couple spent the entire day trying to trace Mabel in the surrounding area, before calling on the help of volunteers from the charity DroneSAR for Lost Dogs.

Volunteers worked through the night with thermal imaging drones, scouring fields close to where she was last seen.

Mabel was later spotted at about 09:00 GMT near to a livery yard in Kington St Michael, north of Chippenham, on Saturday.

Mabel was eventually found and caught on Saturday night, after Rogers, who was guided by a drone pilot and a volunteer on the phone, crossed a waterlogged field to reach her.

Mabel had settled in a hedgerow.

"I got down to the floor and I started to say Mabel's favourite words [like] 'would you like some breakfast'," Rogers said.

"I threw some chicken on the floor [but] she ran straight past the chicken, literally jumped on me and started licking my face and was just going crazy," she added.

As for the volunteers who helped her, Rogers described the rescue as "literally a miracle", adding: "I couldn't have done it without them".

DroneSAR volunteer Caroline Coward, who took part in the search and guided Rogers on the phone, said the rescue was "really, really rewarding".

She said the search felt "quite pressured" due to the risk Mabel had put herself in by escaping close to a motorway and major A-road.

"You never know what the outcome is going to be [or] how long the search is going to take," she said.

"But this one was lovely - I find it hard to put it into words [...] It makes it all worthwhile," she added.

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