A DOG’S SAGACITY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 26 September 1927, Page 8

A DOG’S SAGACITY

BRINGS HELP TO MASTER

INJURED BY FALLEN TREE RUNS TWO MILES WITH NOTE. Sydney. September 8. From the Ballarat district of Victoria comes an epic story of rhe sagacitv and devotion of a doe in bringing aid to his injured master, John Flynn, aged 29 years, a woodcutter, who was working in a forest reserve felling trees, when a branchy dry gum tree, three feet in diameter, unexpectedly crashed. In attempting hurriedly to retrieve his coat. Flynn was struck across the back bv a massive limb and rendered sense less.

When Flynn regained consciousness some time later his dog a halfbred kelpie, was licking his face and manifesting distress at his master's unusual situation. On recovering his strength a little, Flynn extracted from the pocket of his coat an old envelope and a stub of pencil, and wrote a call for help to his mother at their home some miles away. He enclosed the message in his handkerchief, which he tied around the kelpie’s neck, and ordered the dog to go home. After some persuasion, the faithful animal made off homewards.

The kelpie apparently ran hard the whole way to his master’s home. Mrs Flynn noticed the dog was distressed when he reached home, but her noor eyesight failed to notice the handkerchief with the mute call for aid around the dog’s neck. For hours the dog fretted restlessly about the house until late in the afternoon a younger member of the household returned home and found the message. The kelpie barked epcouraginglv as the handkerchief was untied and showed his joy. A relief party of neighbours was ouicklv organised and set off., led by the kelpie. The rescuers found Flvnn three quarters of a mile from the. scene of the accident, stoically crawling along the bush track. He told the rescuers that when the dog failed to return within a reasonable time he began to dig himself out from underneath the great branch. After long And painful labour with his hands, he succeeded in freeing himself, bis finger nails being torn to shreds in the process.

He found that spinal injuries prevented him from rising to his feet, but he set out to crawl home, pausing every few yards for rest anil ease. Flynn was hurriedly taken to hospital. where he was admitted in a serious condition. His faithful doe accompanied him the whole time, amt only left his bedside after long pet suasion by Flynn’s relatives