ONE of the country’s most successful search and rescue dogs – a six-year-old Border collie from Cullompton called Rusty – is back on track to resume his career thanks to pioneering surgery on his leg.

Rusty, one of seven registered search and rescue dogs in the Dartmoor and Exmoor team, suffered a fracture dislocation after a road traffic accident.

He is one of just a few pets in the UK to benefit from the surgery, which involves stripping the small joints of cartilage, and putting a plate and screws in to align the bones.

Rusty’s owner, Dave Humphrey, said: “As well as being a much loved member of our family, Rusty’s a fantastically successful search and rescue dog.

“We were concerned that this injury might cut short his career finding lost and injured people in the county.”