Lost Trofarth dog

Dec 2 2010 by Richard Evans, North Wales Weekly News

A LITTLE dog survived 24 hours in snow six inches deep in temperatures of minus 10ºC.

Dash the Japanese Chin/ Maltese cross astounded his owners when he returned home a day after he went missing in the countryside at Trofarth, between Colwyn Bay and Llanrwst.

The 18-month-old pet was lost in the wilderness overnight after he was frightened in the family garden and ran off at 1pm on Sunday.

Mum Tracey Pardoe, dad Don and Joseph, 14, and Lily-Ann, 11, feared the worst after searching for Dash and reporting him missing to both the RSPCA and police.

Tracey, 49, who works for Conwy County Council, said the family had accepted it was too cold for their little pet to survive the night.

“Dash was playing with the children in the front, something spooked him and he ran off,” she explained.

“We hunted high and low for him and reported him missing to the RSPCA and police. We searched the roads but we couldn’t find him anywhere.

“He was missing for 24 hours, and we must have had five or six inches of snow. It was minus 10ºC that night, it was already minus 6ºC by the time it got dark, so we decided there was no chance he could survive through the night.

“We were devastated, the children were absolutely distraught, there were lots of tears. He is such a cheeky little thing, so we were really sad.”

But despite being alone in the wilderness with the snow deeper than his legs, Dash beat the odds and returned home.

Exactly a day later after he went missing the family returned home on Monday to find Dash cuddled up in an emergency bed they had left in the doorway of their home.

“I was astounded. He had been out all night and survived. He must be very strong,” said Tracey. “He’s only got short legs, how he survived we don’t know. He’s been sat by the fire all day shivering and chewing his bone!”