Missing dog rescued after rush-hour motorway mayhem

A missing dog who managed to cross all lanes of the M1 in rush hour has been reunited with her owners, police said.

Rescue dog Misty disappeared from Thurgoland near Barnsley on 28 July while on a family holiday.

The two-year-old Golden Retriever Spaniel cross, who was adopted from Cyprus, was spotted across South Yorkshire over the next two weeks.

Police were finally able to catch her on 10 August after she caused "mayhem" by running on to the M1 near Birdwell.

Misty was spotted by roads policing officers in Dodworth, Penistone, Langsett and other locations.

But although they said she appeared to be "soaking wet and petrified," they were unable to catch her.

South Yorkshire Police later received a number of 999 calls from people who had spotted Misty on the M1 and a road block was put in place while drone officers and volunteers from dog rescue group K9-SAR helped to find her.

She was reunited with her owners on 10 August.

A police spokesperson said that although Misty was "dirty, underweight and scared" when she was found, she was now healthy.

PC Andrea Silburn helped with the rescue operation and admitted to being a "huge dog lover".

"She is a very clever dog, she managed to get so close to getting home herself, but she just couldn't work out the final bit," she said.

"Finally being able to catch Misty, using chicken which was far too tempting for her to ignore after weeks of surviving on her own, was an extremely happy and rewarding day for everyone."

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