Jerry the runaway beagle, found after almost three weeks living wild, was rushed to the vet’s overnight after being taken ill.
The five-year-old hound was reunited with owners Nick and Steph Brown late yesterday but took a turn for the worse overnight.
Jerry, a familiar sight running along the canal around Slaithwaite with Steph, had lost around half her body weight and vets said she had only survived her ordeal because she was so fit.
Around 2.30am this morning Jerry became unwell and was taken back to Ashfield vets in Meltham who referred her to a larger surgery in Halifax.
Steph, 40, of Slaithwaite, said: “She managed to eat something last night and went to bed and seemed fine but she went downhill overnight and was sick.
“We took her to the vets in Meltham and they said to rush her straight to Halifax where she was put on a drip.
“Jerry has lost just over half her body weight. There’s nothing to her and she looks like a puppy. She’s just a scrap of a thing.
“The vets said if she hadn’t been as fit as she was she wouldn’t have survived.
“We gave her some little bits of food but it was kind of inevitable that her body would reject it after so long without proper food.
“We are just praying she is going to be all right.”
Jerry disappeared from her pen at a Slaithwaite farm on Bonfire Night and a huge search went global on social media.
Thousands of people around the world joined the hunt and there was delight when she was caught by a farmer at Deer Hill near Meltham and returned home.
“Everybody was so chuffed we had found her,” said Steph. “The last thing I want to do is give people bad news but we want to keep everyone informed. We are so grateful.”
