By Izzy Hawksworth via SWNS
A runaway dog has been rescued after he spent 18 hours stranded – in the middle of the highway.
Yoda, a one-year-old German Shepherd, escaped from his garden and was later spotted on the central reservation of the M65 while traffic was speeding past him.
Police officers and the highways agency were even forced to close the road in both directions while owner Stephen Hunt, 44, tried to rescue his beloved pet.
But after being missing for around 18 hours, Yoda jumped over a gate onto a garden and he was able to finally be reunited with Stephen.
He said: “I couldn’t believe it – the amount of people who cared has blown my mind.
“My friend rang 999 and I rang the highways agency – they had to shut all of the motorway.
“A police officer stopped right by Yoda and he tried to get him, but he just ran off all down the central reservation.”
Stephen says that when Yoda escaped from his home in Burnley, Lancs,. on Sunday (June 2), he immediately ‘panicked’ and ‘didn’t know what to do.’
He posted that Yoda had gone missing on Facebook and was told by strangers that he had been spotted in the local area and then on the motorway.
Stephen’s friend Steven Elmes then took his dog Xena near the motorway and he realized Yoda was in the middle of the central reservation.
He said: “I panicked – I didn’t know what to do.
“One of my friends has a dog called Xena and he said he would walk along the canal that goes along the motorway.
“Xena has taken him three bridges down on the motorway because she scented him out and then Steven also saw him on the central reservation.”
Yoda is now back home and Stephen says that he’s ‘got a little more bounce about him’ now he’s recovered from what happened.
He said: “His pads were really worn so I don’t know how he managed to get so far down the motorway but I guess it’s the fear.
“He only went outside to do his business yesterday but he’s got a bit more bounce about him today and I think he’s healing up a little bit.
“He can’t run or anything but he can walk without looking uncomfortable.
“When he got back, he hoovered down two bottles of water and three bowls of food.”
