A COLLIE dog missing for almost a month has miraculously been found trapped down a gully just half a mile from her home. Twelve-year-old Holly survived on drips of water running off the roof of Stoke Climsland Social Club as she lay 10ft down in the ditch. Weak, bony and barely able to see, Holly was spotted by local resident William Sommerville last Friday. Holly was rescued by ladder and a community effort and rushed to the vets ? apart from an eye infection and malnutrition, staff confirmed she was one very lucky dog! Owner Dennis Stephenson said: ?She was not so dehydrated that she needed a drip but she was as light as a feather and could hardly stand up. A few days later and it would have been too late. ?Her eyes were all puffy and she could not see me but she recognised my voice and wagged her tail. She was a bit bedraggled and needed a good bath but she is alive and that?s just brilliant.? Mr Stephenson is convinced that his dog had fallen down the 18-inch gap which runs level with Stoke Climsland churchyard the night she went missing in a thunderstorm on June 25. Holly often runs away when she hears a loud noise but during the day she can be found in the village or at the local primary school. ?On this occasion we had let her out to go to the toilet, she heard thunder and just bolted,? said Mr Stephenson. ?She?s a very friendly dog but at that time of the day there would have been no-one around and she just kept running.? Alleged sightings of Holly have had Mr Stephenson travelling as far as Lamerton and Gunnislake in the hope of finding the much-loved family pet. ?I was still following up calls but it was getting to the stage where hope was fading. ?The funny thing is I have driven past that clubhouse hundreds of times looking for Holly and we had also searched the churchyard. ?We were not aware of that gap between the churchyard and the back of the social club and no-one thought of looking there. It?s a miracle she was found. We are so grafeful to Mr Sommerville.? Holly is being reintroduced to food in small quantities and eye-drops are treating the eye infection. Her owner said she was happy to be made a fuss over and did not appear to be too traumatised by events. A member of Stoke Climsland Parochial Church Council Will Sommerville said he had been taking a walk to kill time while the BBC interviewed his churchwarden wife about the Whiteford Music Festival last week. ?I was walking around the back edge and looked down this gap and there was a dog looking back at me,? he said. ?I understand that gap has been there for generations. Something like this has highlighted its high risk and we must do something very quickly to make sure it does not happen again. ?We may put up railings and name it the Holly fence!?
