Puppy lost on Lake District fells for two weeks is found after social media campaign

Sarah Towers, Kendal, set up the 'Please help Find Zeus' Facebook page after the 10-month-old Dogue de Bordeaux Mastiff got 'spooked' on Place Fell, near Patterdale, at the end of August.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Zeus was being walked by owner Tony McDougall, who is from Teesside but often visits the Lake District to go hiking, when he became frightened and wrenched the lead from Tony's hand.

"He just got spooked," Sarah told the Gazette. "They do not know what spooked him.

"The mist was coming in quite thick and fast, whether that spooked him or something had moved and he had seen it, they do not know."

Sarah volunteers a lot of her time to help with rescue dogs, getting them out of pounds and into good rescue centres.

It was through these connections that she heard about Zeus' tale and set out on a quest to reunite Zeus with Tony.

She began to spread the word on her own personal page, then set up the Facebook page, which quickly gained momentum, amassing more than a thousand 'likes'.

"It was being shared," the 49-year-old said. "There were people picking up on it in Australia in case they knew somebody over here.

"There was somebody going out looking every day. We had guys with drones but the weather was horrendous and that was not helping.

"If my dog was stuck out there I would want everybody in the world to be helping me. It would just kill me."

In the end, it was the efforts of Jez Starkey and fell runner Adam Briggs that resulted in Zeus being located. The pair went out searching for him last Thursday (September 14) and were alerted to his barking and found him near the bottom of Rooking Gill, under Steel Edge, tangled in brambles.

The work of the rescuers has not gone unnoticed, with Windermere's Langdale Chase Hotel picking up on the story and offering the 'local heroes' a reward.

"Langdale Chase is known for its love of dogs, so today we are beyond thrilled with the amazing news that this gorgeous 10 month old Bordeaux Mastiff called Zeus has finally been found safe and well," a spokesperson for the hotel posted on its Facebook page.

"We believe no good deed should go unrewarded so we would like to buy Adam and Jez lunch at Langdale Chase!"

Sarah, who has a four-year-old Bordeaux Mastiff called Eric as well as two other dogs, said that hearing the news was 'brilliant' and there was tears shed.

"We all thought he was stuck somewhere or something horrible had happened," she recalled. "So I just cried. It was just brilliant."

She took him to Kendal's Westmorland Veterinary Group to be quickly checked over by vet Chris Beck.

"He was very thin but other than that he seemed in pretty good nick," Mr Beck said. "To be honest I was quite surprised with how well he was looking and how settled he was."

Zeus had lost a lot of weight during his two weeks on the fell and has now been put on a 'recuperative diet' to help him recover. Mr Beck said that he assumed Zeus had access to water but other than that he had probably survived off his own fat stores.

He was passed over to Tony's brother, Dave, as Tony is working offshore. In a twist of fate, he was waiting to depart from Aberdeen when the news came in that Zeus had been found.

Dave, who lives in Middlesbrough, said that his brother had been 'desperate' during the days apart from his pup.

"He's been back and forwards to the Lake District, camping out," he explained. "He's basically been beside himself trying to find Zeus."

Dave met with Sarah in the car park of the Co-op in Kirkby Stephen, where the hound was passed over.

"He was absolutely over the moon to see me which I was very thrilled about," he said. "He was very very bouncy.

"He was tired as hell. I put him in the backseat and that was him asleep."

He said that his brother was 'desperate' to see Zeus again.

"Tony is desperate to see him," he said. "He is in communication with me every single day asking how he's doing.

"I think he won't be happy until he gets home and sees Zeus and gives him a hug."