Missing sheepdog rescued after long night on narrow Cader Idris ledge

The dog had been helping his shepherd bring a small flock of sheep down from Cader Idris in Mid Wales.

But on reaching the gate to the farm the shepherd found that the dog had gone missing.

He searched the bracken-covered hillside and Tim was eventually found on a narrow ledge on the vertical sides of a small river gully.

At about 9.30pm on Tuesday, call handlers from Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team were made aware that the sheepdog was trapped.

Graham O'Hanlon, from the search and rescue team, said colleagues faced a tough decision.

"Given the late hour and failing light, the difficult decision was made that, for the safety of team volunteers, the rescue attempt would be held off until the following morning," said Mr O'Hanlon.

"Many of those involved, from the owner through to every dog-owning team member and beyond, had a restless night thinking of Tim on his ledge, and were keen to get up the hill the following morning."

He said that in less than perfect weather, the team set about rigging a rope-rescue system, and a rescuer was lowered down to Tim's position.

"Tim, having presumably spent a fairly unpleasant evening on the tiniest of ledges, was not overly welcoming to the stranger in the red-jacket dangling down before him, but with a bit of time and patience he was won over," he said.

"He was fitted into a harness and loaded into the stock-bag for lifting back up the crag where he was reunited with his owner.

"We as a team rely on the support and forbearance of our farming community to get on with the task of rescues, so it is always good when we can return the favour.

"We use this particular farm as a training venue from time to time, so it makes it especially nice to be able to help them."

Aberdyfi Search & Rescue Team provides a search and rescue service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in wild and remote locations throughout South Snowdonia and Mid Wales.

Aberdyfi SaRT is made up of a dedicated team of volunteers and entirely funded by charitable donations.

Team members come from a wide variety of backgrounds, such as artists, mountain instructors, engineers and scientists to name a few.

All give up a large amount of their time to train and provide a voluntary search and rescue service day or night, year round.???