A pet rescuer has slated railway bosses for allowing a dead pup to lie on a track for two days before being handed over in a filthy plastic bag.
The treatment of Pippa, a pup rescued from Cyprus, led search party leader Liz Milligan to write a scathing letter to Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines, demanding better treatment for pets killed by trains in Scotland.
Drone pilot and trapping expert Liz, from Kilmarnock, said the pup had run away from new owners at Irvine beach on January 5 and was hit by a train as a rescue party tried to find her.
The rescuer was fobbed off for two days before being asked to collect the dog two days later.
She wrote: “The member of staff arrived, went to the grass at the side of the track and dragged a large yellow bag along the ground, through a large puddle and dumped it at my feet.
“It contained a poor seven-month-old pup, who was badly failed in life when she was born, then again.
“When I asked the member of staff if they had no respect for this poor pup, they answered – ‘I put it in a bag, what else did you want me to do? She should never have been left in a bag by the side of the track like a piece of rubbish.
“The delay in identifying this dog would also have had a major impact on the outcome of a search.
“If this had not been the dog I had been looking for, I would have lost several days of an opportunity to continue searching.”
In October the Record told how Pomeranian Aurora was found by Drone SAR For Lost Dogs UK in Cumnock.
Liz was among volunteers to leap to the aid of owners Meghan and Mark Savage, both 29, after the pooch ran of during a walk.
Then charity set up a cage and cameras to find the two-year-old pet.
They used a drone to search the area before setting up the trap with fish as bait. and Aurora was found safe and sound inside the trap the following day.
The adventurous dog has now been nicknamed Aurora the Explorer after the popular children’s character, Dora.
Meghan spoke at the time of her joy at getting Aurora back.
She said: “It was the best moment ever. We rushed down and when she saw me she started jumping up and down in the cage. I couldn’t believe it.”
Liz, who volunteers for Drone Search and Rescue for Lost Dogs UK received a reply from Network Rail’s head of passenger experience Lorna Brown.
She said: “We don’t have the resources to provide scanners to determine the identity of a dog found on the tracks, or for a dedicated team to be deployed to look for and recover missing pets.”
A Network Rail spokesman added: “We understand the distress caused and apologise for the delay.”
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