A family were devastated when their missing dog was returned to them ‘in pieces’ in bin bags.
Trent, a two-year-old chow chow, had escaped from his home in Kirkdale, Liverpool on November 4 and been hit and killed by a train.
When he disappeared, his owner, mum-of-two Keylisha Gleeson, posted on Facebook asking if anyone had seen her pet.
Several people said they had spotted him wandering into Kirkdale Traction Maintenance Depot.
Keylisha’s mum Tracy, who had visited several nearby stations in the hope of finding him, was eventually told by someone at the depot that Trent had sadly been struck and killed by a train.
Keylisha, 22, told the Liverpool Echo: ‘I was on the phone to my mum at the time and I said ‘is he definitely gone? He could still be alive’, and the man said he’s definitely dead – he’s been cut in half. He’s in two pieces. That traumatised me. I haven’t slept or ate since it happened.’
She was later informed someone would retrieve Trent but due to the tracks being dangerous this couldn’t be done until specially trained staff were available.
On Thursday ‘they handed over two black bin bags with pieces of the dog in both bags.’ she said.
Keylisha said she and her children adored Trent and the whole family is devastated he’s gone.
She believes her pet could have been saved by rail staff as ‘they knew there was a dog running down the depot’ and ‘they had a chance to get the dog before he hit the rails’.
Stadler Rail Group, who run the maintenance depot, told the Echo they informed Network Rail, who are responsible for the tracks, as soon as they received reports the dog had been seen near the tracks.
A spokesperson for Network Rail, meanwhile, said once they were made aware Trent was on the tracks specialist rail operatives, who are authorised to access areas with live rails, were dispatched.
But when they arrived the dog had already been hit by a Merseyside Rail train and was dead.
It’s not clear how much time occurred between Network Rail being told of the dog and them arriving at the scene.
The firm apologised that Trent wasn’t removed from the tracks on the same day he died and said it would be reviewing its processes in regards to this.
The Metro has contacted all rail parties for comment.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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