Tuesday 19 November 2024 was a freezing cold day and we had just experienced the first significant snow fall of the winter.

It was approaching 4pm and our joint environmental health team (the service is provided jointly with North East Derbyshire District Council) received a telephone call reporting a stray dog that had been found in a field in Sutton Scarsdale.

It was getting dark and fearing that if the dog was left outside in sub-zero and wintry conditions the dog would not survive. One of our environmental health enforcement officers responded to the call immediately.

On arrival, the officer found the dog had collapsed in the middle of the field, and initially believed they were too late, and the dog had passed away.

The dog was curled up, lying motionless in the snow, but the officer identified a very faint heartbeat and scooped the dog up in their arms taking it back to their van.

The officer described the dog as ‘frozen’.

After carrying the dog through a field of snow and ice in the darkness, the officer placed it in the back of the van and tried to warm it up using puppy pads and blankets to insulate it. The officer genuinely feared they had lost the dog.

But not one to give up, they took the dog to an out of hours vets and thankfully the dog, named Sky, received overnight care and was diagnosed with severe hypothermia, dehydration and low blood sugar.

Thankfully, Sky survived, but is now unfortunately blind. However, the vets say this could be an effect of the hypothermia, and her sight may recover.

Since receiving her treatment at the vets, Sky is now in one of our kennels, where she is currently being looked after and hopefully will be rehomed.

The dog was microchipped to an address in Newcastle and is currently being investigated, but it is suspected that the chip details were not updated by the current owner and Sky was abandoned.

Chief Executive Karen Hanson said, “It is great to hear that the actions of a council officer helped to save Sky’s life. The officer leapt into action as soon as they heard of the dog’s plight and provided expert care and attention.

“They said they were just doing their job, but it was a lot more than that and their dedication to helping this poor animal was second to none. Hopefully Sky is on the road to a full recovery and we will see her in a loving and caring home very soon.”

Sky is a little over one year old and owes her life to the officer. All too often we see animals suffering, especially this time of year and some are not as lucky.

But with your help we can help keep abandoned or stray animals safe and warm this winter. If you would like to donate warm blankets, towels, or anything else to help keep stray animals warm and dry any donations would be welcomed.

Donations can be dropped off at any of our contact centres or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (opens in a new window) to make arrangements for collection.