Paisley train staff have been praised after finding a valuable therapy dog spooked at Gilmour Street.
Lucy the labrador was finally found 24 hours after she went missing – after crawling out of sight when she plunged 20 feet from the railway embankment.
The dog had been fostered by a Paisley family and they were taking her by train to Ardrossan then to her new home on Arran.
Suddenly the two-year-old panicked and bolted across the railway tracks and disappeared.
She was badly hurt and is this morning awaiting an operation after a successful £5,000 online plea to pay for vet costs.
Station staff heard her barks for help and she was rescued last Wednesday.
Lee Herron, of Paisley, launched a GoFundMe appeal and by today has hit more than £5,700.
He said: “The train staff at Paisley Gilmour Street were incredible and stopped the trains when Lucy first ran, but nobody could find
her.
“It was the following day, after no sightings, that the train staff heard a dog barking and guided her family to the location of the noise.
“Lucy was lying badly injured and unable to move.”
Initial treatment to a leg and hip has been carried out, but today she will go under the knife in an operation to pin her shattered limb.
Lucy – trained to warn of diabetic attacks – was being taken by the family to a relative on Arran.
Lee added: “One of Lucy’s front legs is in a bad way, and initially the plan was to amputate, however, vets have now discovered her hip is also badly injured and they are now trying desperately to save her front leg with an operation to pin it.
“Lucy is only a young dog with her whole life ahead of her – she’s already helped save the life of a little girl on many occasions while staying with her foster mum when she used to alert her to her having hypos for type 1 diabetes.
“We cannot thank people enough for helping.”
Vet costs are estimated at £3,500 for the leg and £1,000 for the hip.
To help donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/2d0dyckl3c?member=10555659&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer
