Rescuers dangle sausage from drone to save lost dog

A lost dog was reunited with her owner after rescuers lured her to safety using sausages dangled from drones.

Police, firefighters and coastguards embarked on a four-day rescue mission in a bid to reach Millie the Jack Russell after she became stranded on treacherous mud flats at Farlington Marshes near Portsmouth.

After several failed attempts rescuers came up with an ingenious move to save her from drowning.

They used two drones to dangle sausages in front of the dog in a desperate attempt to lure her back to safety.

Luckily, the pork-dangling plan worked and the terrier followed the sausage towards her rescuers and away from the rising tides.

Chris Taylor, who is the chair of the Denmead Drone Search and Rescue team, told The Guardian: “It was a crazy idea.

“One of the local residents on the beach where we were flying from supplied us with the sausages - I think they were from Aldi. The woman cooked them up for us and we attached them with string."

He added: "If we hadn’t... got her away from that area the tide would have come in and she would have been at risk of drowning.

"It was something we had never tried before - the sausages were the last resort."

Mr Taylor said it was a rescue method teams facing the same challenge in the future might want to try.

He said: "We certainly would consider using sausages again: every dog and search operation is always going to be different, but if we were ever in a similar situation again we would employ the same methods to lure the dog."

Her owner Emma Oakes told the paper: “Relief just poured over me. It was just absolutely fantastic to have her home.”