Roles reversed as a St. Bernard dog was the one that needed rescuing from England’s tallest mountain

St. Bernard dogs are the ones that traditionally have come to the rescue of humans. But in a reverse of circumstances, humans rescued a St. Bernard after she collapsed while coming down England’s highest mountain.

With their great sense of direction and resistance to cold, St. Bernards have been saving people in the mountains since the 18th century, according to the Smithsonian Magazine. They were first bred by monks living in St. Bernard Pass, a dangerous route through the Alps connecting Italy and Switzerland, to help them on rescue missions after heavy snowstorms. Over a span of nearly 200 years, the dogs saved about 2,000 people, according to the magazine.

But on Friday evening, it was a 121-pound St. Bernard named Daisy that needed saving from Scafell Pike in North West England after she showed signs of pain in her rear legs and was refusing to move.

The rescue operation took a total of five hours and 16 team members of the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team.

“Daisy’s owners were able to keep her well-hydrated and fed until team members were able to get on scene with a stretcher to help get them moving again quickly as the weather was due to deteriorate later that evening,” the rescue team said in a statement.

From steep hills and rocks to even a waterfall, the team said it faced many obstacles during their trek. But with a number of tactics — including “plenty of treats” — the team was able to safely bring Daisy downhill on the stretcher.

Noting that Daisy “had a hard start in life until she was ‘rescued’ by her current owners a few months ago,” the rescue team said Daisy has since been reported to be back to her “usual high spirits.”

“She apparently feels a bit guilty and slightly embarrassed about letting down the image of her cousins bouncing across the Alpine snows with barrels of brandy around their necks,” the rescue team joked.