URGENT - dogs loose following accident M40

[*hic*]

I just picked this up if anyone is in the area and sees them or hears of them.

URGENT - URGENT - URGENT URGENT!......... M40 Oxfordshire - M40 closed northbound between J11, A361 (Banbury) and J12, B4451 (Gaydon), because of a serious accident involving a lorry and a camper van. Diversion in operation - traffic heading from Oxfordshire to the West Midlands is advised to divert via the A43 and M6. Lisa Croft-Elliott and Carrie Russell-Smith are involved in this serious accident... They had 12 dogs on board some are sadly dead others have run off, if anyone is in this area PLEASE look out for the dogs.... Carrie and Lisa are bruised and battered and Twink has a broken leg ....I will update when I can 3 CORGIS are still missing!!!!! Please share and anyone in the area please help Lisa and carrie!!! Smirk, sweetie and Darren are missing between j11 and j12 on the M40 north bound!!

 

[Girlracer]

Will share on Facebook, i'm near Stratford so not too far from me.

 

[Allover]

I will also share on FB, could you PM contact details if by any luck someone contacts me?

 

[CorvusCorax]

According to Andrew Brace on Facebook, Sweetie is dead, a bitch puppy (Smirk?) has been found but Darren is still missing...I think he's a Cardigan corgi he will be dark or merle, not the usual red colour of the Pembroke.

 

[Cyrus]

Darren is black and white from picture I have seen uploading it to photobucket to bring over here although from reports of the ladies friends he is back with his owners but so many stories going round and nothing yet officially confirmed

 

[Allover]

There is a post on FB with a photo showing him back with his Mummy

 

[PucciNPoni]

According to FB, all dogs have now been accounted for. Horrible story - RIP little ones that didn't make it.

 

[MurphysMinder]

So tragic. According to reports on fb the RAC refused to take the dogs so owners chose to stay with vehicle

 

[PucciNPoni]

I'm seeing that too MM - but what I want to know is:

Did RAC refuse to tow the vehicle with the dogs?
Were they going to abandon the vehicle and dogs and just carry the passengers?

Or, was it a case of "We'll tow the vehicle but the dogs have to stay in the caravan" and the owners refused? I'm not sure I'd be happy to have my dogs in the vehicle being towed, but in hindsight it could have saved their lives. But as tempted as I am to change my breakdown cover, I'd like to know what actually happened.

 

[{97702}]

I've been involved in a car accident with a dog in the car before - I skidded on black ice and went through a fence and nearly into a river - the recovery lorry driver refused to let my lurcher pup come in the breakdown lorry's cab with me, he had to stay in the car as it was towed home. Of course I didn't want to do that, but at that moment in time it was safer than any other option for me and for the puppy.

I agree with PuccinPoni, it is a dreadful accident but I wonder what the RAC driver actually said.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I agree that we don't know the actual facts yet. I think it is usual for breakdown drivers to expect the dogs to stay in the vehicle rather than go into the recovery vehicle, certainly when we broke down once our van was loaded onto the back of the breakdown truck and the dogs had to stay in it. I wasn't happy but they were of course fine. I believe that the vehicle in this awful accident was in fact a camper van, not sure if that would make any difference.

 

[springtime1331]

My landy broke down on a motorway and the rescue vehicle wouldn't take them in the cab - they had to stay in the vehicle which was put on the low loader. The dogs didn't serum to mind a bit, although naturally I was worried about them. I guess the problem could be if the car had a crash and so wasn't safe ie open to the elements or door wouldn't shut. I wonder what the rescue company would say then.

 

[{97702}]

Something else I've just seen on FB which hadnt occurred to me - although I've also seen that MM has alluded to it - perhaps the vehicle that came out wasn't suitable for recovering a camper van (not big enough) which is quite often the case, and they were sending out a bigger low loader or similar? Don't get me wrong, this is a truly appalling accident and my thoughts are most definitely with all affected but I don't feel it is appropriate to berate the RAC as some people appear to be doing on FB

 

[jodie3]

There seems to be a huge reaction against the RAC going on on Facebook. I think until the whole story is known it is difficult to make a judgement.

It was a tragic accident and by the the look of the pictures I have seen of the camper van, which appears to have disintegrated completely, it is a miracle anyone survived at all.

Thoughts are with the ladies concerned, I hope they all make a speedy recovery and rip to the dogs.

 

[PucciNPoni]

In such tragedies like this everyone is wanting blood (of the guilty parties) and while it's obvious that the lorry driver was at fault, it's being blamed on RAC. It's a shame - it's a good company and hopefully we'll get a full disclosure of what happened. I feel terribly for the people involved.

 

[Allover]

Its a awfully sad day for all involved and a stark lesson to others to check their breakdown cover. Hope all those that survived make a full and speedy recovery.

 

[paulineh]

I have broken down a couple of times when I have had my dogs with me. The dogs stayed in the Land Rover and it was put on the recovery truck.

I have also broken down a couple of times when towing the trailer. The first time was close to a Motorway Sevices and the RAC towed both the LR and trailer off the Motorway. The second time the Equine Services came and took the trailer with horse in it , home. The recovery truck then took the LR home. Although the horse was home well before the LR,that took them 2 hours to pick up.

 

[Getcarter]

It's well known that the hard shoulder is a very dangerous place so why didn't they all get out and go up the embankment? Waiting for more facts to come out.

 

[PucciNPoni]

Getcarter- they were waiting for three hours. I'm sure that would have been a very long wait in the freezing cold in the middle of the night (the crash happened at 5.30 am, and they'd already been waiting for three hours by then). And I would imagine that having to wait on the embankment with 12 dogs would have been a nightmare anyway. They were sensible and stayed in the vehicle - even though most of us know it's the most dangerous place to be - they'd have died of hypothermia....