Oldham Mountain Rescue search dog scared by cat found

A Greater Manchester search and rescue dog which was lost after being chased off by a cat has been found.

Oldham Mountain Rescue border collie Bob "shrieked and shot off" after meeting the cat while being walked through a Mossley field on Thursday.

An online plea for help to find Bob was issued and a neighbouring mountain rescue team offered to join the search.

Team member Peter Hyde said it was answered by a man Bob "befriended" and the dog was "on a sofa, being fed".

Mr Hyde said Bob, who is trained to track the scent of missing people as part of a rescue, ran away while being exercised by a friend of his handler, Mick Nield.

"He was being looked after by a family friend when he was chased off by a cat," he said

"He shrieked and shot off into the distance and that was that."

After his disappearance, the team searched the surrounding area but after they could not find Bob they issued a request for help online.

Mr Hyde said the team's Twitter and Facebook sites had "gone mad" and that people had been "looking for him all over the place".

"We even had one of our adjacent rescue teams about to come over from Calder Valley to help," he said.

He said a "kind benefactor" had answered their plea and the dog had been found "lording it up" at his home.

"He had befriended someone and he was in their garage on a sofa, being fed," he said.

He added that he wanted to thank "everyone who responded to help".