Molly the border collie rescued after a week waiting for injured owner in New Zealand’s remote backcountry

A rescue mission involving volunteer helicopter crew and public donations ended in joy after Molly was located and brought home A spot of furry black and white appears among the jagged rocks of New Zealand’s alpine backcountry. It is Molly the border collie, sitting near the foot of a waterfall where she had been separated from her owner one week earlier. Molly was rescued on Tuesday after an avalanche of donations from the public funded a volunteer team made up of former helicopter pilots and crew to mount a search in the wilderness. Molly had been missing since 24 March, when her owner, Jessica Johnston, tumbled down a 55-metre drop, while on a hike. Johnston was seriously injured and rescued by helicopter, but her dog was nowhere to be seen. The chances of finding the border collie were slim given the remote location of the accident on the Campbell Range in the Arahura Valley, in the West Coast region of New Zealand’s South Island. But Lillian Newton, of Precision Helicopters, said she had “a gut feeling” that Molly was still alive. The small family business wanted to help, Newton said, but did not have the budget to fund a private search, with helicopters costing about