In one of the most unexpectedly heartwarming rescue missions you’ll hear all week, a sausage strapped to a drone has helped save a dog from being swept away by the tide.
Millie, a jack russell-whippet mix, found herself stranded on dangerous mudflats near Havant, Hampshire, after slipping her lead and disappearing. As the tide began creeping in, rescue teams, including police, firefighters, and coastguards, scrambled to reach her before it was too late.
But Millie wasn’t making things easy. Skittish and uncooperative, she dodged every attempt to coax her to safety.
With time running out and conventional rescue efforts failing, the team had to get creative, according to We Rate Dogs. And that’s when inspiration struck: what if they used a drone to dangle a sausage in front of her?
Yes, a literal flying sausage.
Chris Taylor, chair of the Denmead Drone Search and Rescue team, admitted it sounded “like a crazy idea” but desperate times called for meaty measures.
After double-checking Civil Aviation Authority rules and calculating the drone’s max takeoff weight, they figured they could attach a single sausage to the drone without any issues.
“One of the locals on the beach offered up some sausages, pretty sure they were from Aldi,” Taylor explained to The Guardian. “She even cooked them up for us. We tied one to the drone with some string and hoped for the best.”
Against all odds, it worked.
Hungry and intrigued, Millie followed the scent of the airborne snack away from the perilous mudflats and toward higher ground. The drone-guided banger turned out to be the hero of the hour.
“If we hadn’t got her out of there, the tide would have come in and she’d have been in serious danger of drowning,” Taylor said. “We couldn’t get to her by kayak or on foot - so the sausage was really a last resort.”
While the trick got her out of immediate danger, Millie wasn’t done just yet. She made another brief escape before eventually being spotted inland, where she ran straight into the arms of Emma Oakes’s father, Tony.
Her owner, Emma, who works as a care manager, described the moment of reunion as a huge relief.
“Relief just poured over me. It was absolutely fantastic to have her home,” she said.
Turns out, Millie is a bit of a foodie. “She’ll eat anything, raw carrots, cucumber, but sausages are her favourite. So dangling one in front of her was definitely the right call,” Emma added.
Millie, a timid rescue dog, is now safely back home where she’s doing exactly what you’d expect after an ordeal like that: sleeping, snacking, and demanding peace and quiet.
“She just looks at you like, ‘I’m resting. Leave me alone,’” Emma laughed.
We say: someone give that sausage a medal.