A COLLIE that can’t bark is recovering after spending 26 days trapped in a 10ft gully that she fell into while trying to escape a thunderstorm.

Holly, 12, took fright when she was frightened by thunder during the storm at the end of June.

Her owners, Dennis Stephenson, 68, and his wife Irene, spent weeks following up possible sightings and putting up posters, without success.

The dog was eventually found by a family friend at the bottom of the gully between a graveyard and the back of a building at Stoke Climsland, near Callington, Cornwall.

The collie was trapped for so long because she has never been able to bark and could not attract anyone’s attention.

Holly had not eaten at all during her 26-day ordeal and her body weight had dropped from 25kg to 14kg. She was able to survive by drinking rainwater dripping from the roof of the neighbouring building and licking moisture off the side of the gully.

She is now back home after being treated for malnutrition, dehydration and an eye infection which caused both eyes to gum up, leaving her temporarily blind.

Mr Stephenson, a retired engineer, said that Holly ran off after being let out into the garden in the middle of the night during a thunder storm.

He said: “She has always been scared of loud noises and the thunderclap must have just spooked her.

“We had just let her out to go to the toilet before bedtime and she fled. She is a very friendly dog and would have stopped if anyone was about, but at that time of night she just kept running.

“It is incredible she survived so long. I am really delighted she is all right. We had not given up hope totally but we were close to it.

“I had not stopped looking but the longer it went on the more I suspected it might not have a happy ending. A few days more and it would have been too late.

“She was a bit bedraggled and needed a good bath and she was as light as a feather, but she is alive and that is just brilliant.”

Will Sommerville, a member of the local parochial church council, heard Holly whimpering as he went about his church duties.

He said: “I just saw this terrified dog looking up at me — it was a big surprise. I didn’t even know there was a gap there. It is so narrow she could barely turn around. I’m just glad I found her.”

He pulled Holly to safety with the help of the postmaster and his wife, David and Sue Watts.

Mr Watts, 45, said: “A poster of Holly has been up in our window for weeks now and the whole community has been looking out for her.

“There have actually been a few dogs picked up and taken to Dennis that turned out not to be Holly. People have been that keen to find her.”

Mr Sommerville is now campaigning for a fence to be erected around the narrow gap. He said: “It has been left like this for generations and it is a hazard. Holly has helped highlight the risk and we must do something to stop it happening again — we may even put up railings and name it Holly Fence.”

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