Dogs escape falling tree (From Stroud News and Journal)

Dogs escape falling tree

FEROCIOUS winds brought a tree crashing down at a Whitminster animal shelter on Friday night narrowly missing two dog kennels.

The huge walnut tree was felled by gale-force winds at Teckels and smashed into the ground right between two kennel blocks.

"We were incredibly lucky," said shelter manager Joan Barrett who said she feared the worst the following morning.

"Who knows how it managed to avoid the kennels," said Mrs Barrett. "When I went out there on Saturday morning I couldn't hear any of the dogs.

"The greyhounds especially would always be singing by that time but there was nothing. "I did go a little bit cold for a moment, before I realsied they were all alright, just subdued by the tree coming down."

Miraculously, the tree caused almost no damage, apart from ripping up the concrete around its roots and bashing into the roof of one of the kennel blocks as it fell.

"If it had fallen the other way it would have crushed all the re-homing dogs," said Joan. "We've had a very lucky escape."

"I live on-site and went out to check that everything was okay in the middle of the night because it was so windy. "The dogs were a bit subdued but apart from that things were fine."

"That tree has been there for years. "It came down while a pot plant just next to it and saplings were untouched."