Stray pregnant dog found safe and well on Longridge Fell by Ribble Valley Council dog warden team

Exhausted, starving and shivering with fear and cold, all she wanted to do was a find a safe and warm place to give birth. Attempts to catch her had failed and it looked bleak for poor Elsa.

Fortunately, this shaggy “tail” had a happy ending thanks to the dedication, hard work and sheer determination of a small band of kind-hearted animal lovers who sniffed out a way to capture Elsa and bring her the help she so desperately needed.

Elsa and her seven pups are being loved and looked after and the search is on for new homes for them all

The week-long doggy drama began with Ribble Valley Borough Council’s dog warden Jonathan Higham receiving a report of a stray dog on Longridge Fell.

He searched the fell and three days later spotted Elsa, named by a member of the rescue team, was finally caught, heavily pregnant and clearly distressed.

Despite his best efforts Elsa couldn’t, or wouldn’t, be caught so Jonathan called in support from volunteers at Greater Manchester Lost Dog Search and Rescue and together the rescue team set up a large secure humane trap with food and a resting place.

A remote camera was set up and the site was regularly monitored for several days and eventually Elsa took the “bait”. She was taken to Edencroft kennels in Chipping, near Clitheroe, where, two days later, she gave birth to seven healthy puppies.

Mum and pups were then transferred to the care of the Dogs Trust in Merseyside and happy and safe homes will be found for them once the pups are weaned.

“It was heart-breaking to see a dog in such a distressed and vulnerable state alone like that,” said Jonathan. “She’s a beautiful dog and very mild-mannered but she wasn’t micro-chipped and had no ID tag or anything to identify who she belonged to.

“The staff at Manchester Dog Search and Rescue were great and it shows what can be achieved through different organisations working together. I’m just pleased and proud to have played my part and that things have all turned out all right for Elsa and her pups.”

Michelle Newns-Peers, from Greater Manchester Lost Dog Search and Rescue, said: “So many dogs are being abandoned, and we spend a lot of our time helping these dogs, which is very distressing.

“To find out that a dog that we were asked to help was heavily pregnant was absolutely shocking.

“Elsa trusted us when we humanely trapped her. She allowed me to go into the trap with her and put her on a lead so I could bring her out. She was frightened but put her trust in a stranger when she had already been let down by humans.

“I receive updates on Elsa and her pups, and they are thriving. She is such a brilliant mum, and I am so relieved that she didn’t end up giving birth out there.”