Quick Thinking Traffic Officers Rescue Stranded Dog on the M23, Surrey
London, 11 October/GNN/ --
HIGHWAYS AGENCY News Release (SE217-05) issued by the Government News Network on 11 October 2005 Highways Agency traffic officers, based at the Weatherhill depot on the M23, in Surrey received reports of a dog running loose on the motorway near to Junction 7 last month, and quickly went to the rescue.
Traffic Officers Greig Bradbury and Patricia Allen arrived at the scene to see the dog running on the hard shoulder of the motorway and quickly armed themselves with animal-catching equipment comprising of a pole and a loop, and they brought the dog to safety.
The dog, nicknamed "Lucky" was then taken to one of the Highways Agency depots where he was given some water. Greig Bradbury and Patricia Allen took "Lucky" to the RSPCA centre at Godstone in Surrey where he was checked over and attempts were made to locate his owner. Although "Lucky" did have a collar on, there was no tag giving contact details of his owner. When he got to RSPCA Lucky was scanned for a microchip but one wasn't found.
"Lucky" who came away from the ordeal unharmed and seemingly healthy has since been re-homed in Surrey.
John Henderson, Traffic Officer Supervisor said:
"This is a good example of how Traffic Officers are the eyes and ears of the network and are able to act quickly in situations like this. We were very pleased to be able to rescue the dog and bring it to safety. Our message to drivers is that if you do see any animals on the roads we would ask that you report this to the RSPCA on their Emergency number 08705 555999 so that the animal can be assisted promptly."
