Homer's near death experience

11:34am Friday 29th August 2008

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A NINE-YEAR-OLD Labrador has miraculously escaped death after being hit by a train.

Bratton village crier Ray Davis, 62, and his wife Shirley, 59, from Trowbridge Road, Bratton, took their dog Homer out for his usual morning walk on August 20 at 8.30am, but by 9am he had disappeared.

Homer was found with nasty injuries by local retired farmer, Roger Pearce, on Friday at 1.15pm and was taken to Easterton Veterinary Practice in Eastcott.

Mr Davis believes he strayed onto the nearby stretch of railway line between Westbury and Hungerford and was hit by a train.

"We live right next to the main line track to Paddington and we exercise our dogs in our land, which we are currently trying to fence, but due to financial implications we can't finish it at the moment," Mr Davis said.

"When Homer vanished we searched high and low for him but we couldn't find him anywhere. We had almost given up hope when I got a phone call from Roger Pearce.

"He said he was looking across the fields and saw what at first he thought was a lion. He said the creature was moving around very slowly and it could be Homer.

"I rushed to the spot and I could see the horrific injury straight away. He was ripped from his belly to his spine.

"I think he may have been unconscious for a day or so because he hadn't wandered very far. He just collapsed in a heap when we found him."

Easterton Veterinary Practice operated on Homer for three hours and kept him under observation until Sunday when he returned home.

Mr Davis said: "They worked wonders on him and I'm very grateful to them, especially considering it was a Bank Holiday weekend."

Mr and Mrs Davis took Homer in from the Labrador Rescue Trust (LRT), which is a charity that re-homes unwanted Labradors in the south west.

The charity is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and to date have re-homed 7,439 dogs.

Mrs Davis works as a volunteer for the charity and the Davis family currently have 28 dogs that they have taken in from the LRT.

For more information on the trust visit their website at www.labrescue.homestead.com.

Homer is currently making a good recovery at home.