Search on for Linlithgow hero who rescued dog from loch

Earlier this month Alasdair McKechnie and his wife were walking their West Highland Terrier Hamish around the loch, when they experienced a dog owner’s worst nightmare.

As they were returning home at the west end of the loch Hamish disappeared into the undergrowth and failed to emerge. In a panic his owners went searching for him only to discover he had gone into the loch but could not get out. His training harness was stuck on a branch of a fallen tree in the loch and the poor pup was now stuck in the freezing water.

A passing couple kindly alerted the fishing lodge who arranged to send a rescue vessel across the loch to get Hamish from the water.

Another lady, who had also been making her way round the loch, witnessed the panic, and without a second’s thought for her own safety she quickly made her way across the fallen tree on the loch and managed to release Hamish’s harness, freeing him from the freezing water before the rescue vessel had arrived.

The hero, believed to be a ‘Ms Kerr’, a new local to the area, also slipped into the loch herself on returning to the bank side and was knee deep in freezing water.

Mr McKechnie said: “My wife and I are deeply grateful to Ms Kerr. I cannot thank her enough for her help and would like to nominate her for her unselfish actions and, even more so, my wife and I would like to thank her personally.”

A spokesperson for Westport Vets said: “This months Local Hero perhaps does not realise the magnitude in her act of kindness. Quick thinking, fast acting and without consideration of herself, for her own safety, she helped save the life of this amazing little dog, Hamish.

“If you are our Local Hero, or know her please contact us at [email protected] so we can ensure she receives the credit for her actions and a little treat for herself from a local business in her new home town of Linlithgow.”