Hero dog comes to the rescue

Gypsy is rewarded with a juicy lamb shank by Meg Eden after she alerted her Kyogle owners, Roger and Marian Bayliss, to the fact Meg had fallen and hurt herself by carrying Meg’s slipper back home.

Jay Cronan

MEG EDEN thought her number was up after falling off her deck and breaking her hip in the backyard of her Kyogle home two months ago.

The elderly pensioner, who lives alone, had gone out to feed her parakeets about 4pm when she tripped down the stairs and could not get back inside to raise the alarm.

“Straight away I knew what had happened because my foot was splayed out and I thought ‘oh gosh, how do I get out of this one’,” she said.

“I don’t quite know what I was thinking – I normally take a bag with my mobile phone and heart medicine, but I forgot it this time.

“I was thinking it’s going to be a bloody cold night.”

With the temperature quickly dropping to single digits and night fast approaching, Meg’s options were grim.

“After about an hour it was getting dark and the neighbour’s dog, Gypsy, came up whimpering and licking my face,” she said.

“She’s such a dear little dog – she always visits me twice a day. I was trying to think what I could tie to her neck.”

Gypsy knew something wasn’t right. She sat with Meg for a while whining then, agitated, took off down the hill, but quickly returned and took one of Meg’s slippers and ran off again.

“In all the years I’ve known her, she has never taken anything like that and never chewed shoes,” Meg said.

“She just wagged her tail and took off again.”

Gypsy took the slipper home to her owners, Marian and Roger Bayliss.

“She came tearing in with the slipper and wouldn’t release it. We were very surprised – she never does that,” Mrs Bayliss said.

“So Roger took it back only to find all the lights off. He called out and eventually heard a feeble voice responding.”

Mr Bayliss called the ambulance and after seven weeks of hospital and rehab, Meg is back home recuperating.

“Gypsy came from that wonderful group, Animal Rights and Rescue in Lismore – she’s Roger’s and Marian’s second dog from them. The rescued becomes the rescuer,” she quipped.