Missing pug found after nine days on Lancashire fell

A pug which went missing in the Lancashire hills NINE days ago has finally been found.
Katie Heaselden's pet pug PennyKatie Heaselden's pet pug Penny
Katie Heaselden's pet pug Penny

Distraught Katie Heaselden was walking her pampered pooch Penny on Parlick Fell in the Forest of Bowland, when the little dog became spooked and ran off.

She launched a desperate appeal that saw hundreds of volunteers out searching for the tiny dog.

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Katie also clocked up nearly 2,000 miles herself travelling up and down from her home in Paignton, Devon.

Katie Heaselden's pet pug PennyKatie Heaselden's pet pug Penny
Katie Heaselden's pet pug Penny

But after accepting her chances of ever seeing Penny again were slipping away she was stunned to receive a call from a farmer who had finally found and caught her.

He had even got his sheepdog to sit on Penny before she could run away.

And apart from being very thin and in need of a rest she was checked over by vets this morning and told she should make a full recovery.

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Katie, 23, a nurse, said: “It is such a huge relief that she is home. I literally have no idea how she coped out there for so long.

Parlick Fell in the Forest of BowlandParlick Fell in the Forest of Bowland
Parlick Fell in the Forest of Bowland

“She is such a lapdog we used to joke that she would never last a day out in the wild - but she has gone and survived nine.

“I cannot believe it. It is incredible really and she really does deserve the title of Britain’s toughest pug!

“She is very skinny and and we need to build her back up to eating normal food but apart from that she is ok.

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“She is a completely pampered pooch. She is a lapdog who I carry around everyone. Very occasionally she goes in my handbag, but mainly I carry her in my arms.

“She had lived a very charmed life. To be honest she has gone back to that already but she has now proved she can look after herself when she needs to.”

Katie was walking near her partner’s home when Penny went missing. She shared an appeal to find her on Facebook and people who saw it helped Katie search for her.

Katie’s mum Jennie Davies, 50, said: “There were people with hand-gliders searching the fells, fell runners, people on quad bikes, people walking their dogs, local farmers.

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“I can’t tell you how many people got involved to help bring Penny home. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“But Penny is apparently completely fine.

“She has a twin brother called Percy who lives with me just next door, they see each other every day, and he has really been pining for her. We are all so, so happy that she is home.”