Posted by Wes von Papineäu on December 27, 1999 at 10:46:54:
DAILY MAIL (London, UK) 06 December 99 Once bitten, but brave Ben shrugs off a snake attack and returns to rescue duty
Search and rescue dog Ben is back saving lives after a bite from a poisonous snake threatened to end his career.
The Border collie needed surgery to rebuild a hip and a year of gruelling physiotherapy after the wound became swollen and infected.
And already seven-year-old Ben, who still has a slight limp, has repaid the faith shown in him by finding a badly injured glider pilot in thick woodland.
Ben's owners David and Lynne Warden, who are volunteers with the Southern Scotland branch of the Search and Rescue Dog Association and members of the local mountain rescue team, are delighted by his return to active service.
Mr Warden said: 'Ben still has a slight limp but it's barely noticeable.
To see him now you'd never know what he had been through.' His wife revealed that Ben had been running across fields in his normal fashion when he suddenly yelped and jumped in the air.
Mrs Warden, 32, said: 'We didn't think anything of it because he just carried on, but he soon developed a major infection and his leg became hugely swollen. All he could do was lift his head.
'There was a huge abscess on his hip which burst in the car on the way to the vets.' Ben was forced to undergo an emergency operation and veterinary surgeons removed skin down the side of his leg.
But the infection believed to have been caused by a bite from an adder, Britain's only poisonous snake had eaten away at the bone around the his hip and Ben had to undergo another operation.
But as his wounds began to heal Ben began regular physiotherapy and it was clear he was on his way to a near 100 per cent recovery. Eventually he was fit enough to start search and rescue training again and return to the rescue dog callout list.
Since returning Ben has been involved in three successful missions, two of which resulted in tracking down live casualties.
Mr Warden, 34, said: 'On one of them we were called out to search for a local glider pilot who was missing.
'It was a large forestry area we were searching, but Ben disappeared and came back indicating to me that he had found something.
'He took me to the pilot who was alive but in a lot of pain, but fortunately the pilot has since made a full recovery.' It took 18 months of tough training before Ben reached callout status, and he had worked as a rescue dog for four years when he encountered the venomous snake.
Search and rescue dogs have been used in Britain for more than 30 years and in an emergency situation can cover more ground quicker and safer than a manned team.
This year SARDA members have been involved in 27 call-outs, working in conjunction with police and mountain rescue teams.