Puppy power to the rescue
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PUPPY Power, as Scooby-Doo’s nephew Scrappy-Doo used to say, gained new meaning for two pups born in a storm.
They were part of a litter of nine German Shepherds born at Fangorm Farm, Mulben, in January. They were at risk of freezing to death when storms battered the area and brought down electricity cables.
The power that came to the puppies’ rescue was in the form of two engineers from Scottish and Southern Energy who battled through with a mobile electricity generator to keep the litter warm.
As a thank-you, owners Geoff and Sharon Hutley have registered two of the pups officially with the Kennel Club as “Keith Hay” and “Bill Collie” as a tribute to the two puppy-power life-savers.
Mrs Hutley remembers the day well. “We woke up on the morning of the storm with no electricity and the house was freezing. We’d already lost four pups from the litter within hours of them being born the day before and the thought of losing any more was unbearable.
“When my husband called SSEPD’s customer services to report that the power was off we hadn’t even thought about asking for help with the pups, but when the operator asked if we had any concerns, he mentioned the situation we were in. The operator herself wasn’t even sure what she could do, but she promised to speak to an engineer.”
The operator contacted SSE’s Elgin depot and spoke to Bill Collie who, after carrying out checks to ensure that all customers in the area were provided for, went with site manager Keith Hay to the farm with a spare generator for the Hutley’s to run a heat lamp.
“When Bill and Keith turned up with the generator, I just cried. They were fantastic and we are so incredibly grateful to them,” said Mrs Hutley.
The pups are now ready to go to their new homes, but the engineers had a chance to meet their canine namesakes this week.
