Stranded dog saved with sausage drone

English rescuers coaxed a three-year-old pooch away from the rising tide by dangling the food from a drone

Jack Russell-whippet cross Millie went missing on January 13 in Hampshire, southern England. After a few hours, she was spotted near some dangerous mudflats, but rescuers struggled to catch Millie as they followed her for 100 meters along the coastline.

After losing sight of the small dog and having to abandon the search overnight, a drone company came up with a food-based approach to lure the pooch back towards a rescue team.

Dangling two ounces of sausage from a drone and flying it above Millie, Denmead Drone Search & Rescue managed to capture the attention of the dog and lure her 300 meters into a safer zone away from the rising tide.

The whole process wasn’t straightforward, though, as rescue organizers had to check aviation regulations and the maximum takeoff weight for the drone prior to launching it.

Read more

While Millie ate a bit of the sausage before fleeing for a second time, she headed away from the potentially deadly coastal area and towards an industrial zone, where she was captured the next day.

“It was very difficult to navigate the area. The drone was worth its weight in gold in this case,” the drone team said, accepting that this was “an unusual rescue” effort.

“Millie really likes food and she’ll eat anything you give her … raw carrots, cucumber – but she much prefers sausages. Meat is her favorite food, so dangling a sausage was probably the best thing they could lure her with,” Millie’s owner Emma Oakes said after being reunited with her pooch.