Dog lost in Conwy mountains for months returns home

Bea gets some rest after 58 days away from home

A dog has been reunited with her owners after spending almost 60 days lost in mountains.

Bea, a seven-year-old Welsh springer spaniel, disappeared while on a walk above the Conwy Valley on 8 December.

Despite multiple reported sightings over a wide area, she was not found until Sunday.

Vets said she was in good health, despite spending two months outdoors in the depths of winter.

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Bea's owners, Adam and Rachel Sergeant, had taken her for a walk near Llyn Crafnant, Conwy, when she went missing.

"We were in woodland and got to an open area where there were sheep," said Rachel.

"So we called the dogs to put them on a lead, but Bea didn't come - she'd just vanished."

Bea is described as a "calm and gentle" dog

Rachel said the weather on the day Bea went missing was "foul".

"It was raining so hard, you couldn't tell the difference between a footpath and a stream in places.

"She's never run away, so we can only guess she lost her bearings or got stuck somewhere briefly."

Adam and Rachel, from Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey, would spend the next 58 days searching, but they were not alone in looking for their pet.

Facebook group Lost Dogs North Wales Area was called in to help and used thermal imaging cameras, searched around lakes and rivers, sent a drone up, made posters and shared sightings in a bid to track down Bea.

"Everyone was amazing, we suddenly found ourselves with a network of support - people who weren't just going to give up," said Adam.

"It makes a huge difference to know you're not doing this by yourself - I can't thank them enough."

'Strange noise'

Finally, in early February, a farmer spotted Bea caught in a barbed wire fence above Llanfairfechan, more than 10 miles (16km) from where she first vanished.

Huw Jones said he heard a strange yelping noise coming from part of his land.

"It was part of the site I don't go to very often, but this strange noise just kept coming," he said.

"I found Bea tangled in a mix of barbed wire and plain wire - the way she was caught up, it looked like she'd been there for four or five days."

He said it took him about half an hour to get her out in the dark by the light of his phone.

"I was worried she'd try to bite me, but she was amazing."

Bea has been her "usual self" since returning home, her owners say

Vets checked Bea over and found that she had lost a lot of weight and was stained orange in places by the peat in the mountains, but was in remarkably good health.

Adam and Rachel said they wondered if Bea had survived by hunting rabbits or eating feed cakes put out for sheep.

"Our biggest worry was that she would struggle to fit back into family life, and might be aggressive towards the children, or our other dog Hatty," said Adam.

"But the minute she walked in, she was her usual self - calm and gentle, even with our youngest son, who's nearly two.

"We don't think she'll get lost again… but we've already ordered a GPS tracker for her, just in case."

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