A BLIND and diabetic dog probably saved a woman's life, it was revealed this week.

The 15-year-old Golden Retr-iever was due to be put down on the very day she discovered the unconscious and partially clothed woman lying in a beck at Bridge End, Otley.

The dog's owner, Marie Consoli, who had put off the trip to the vet, believes if it had not been for her pet, the woman would have died.

The woman in her 20s, who has not been named, was taken to Leeds General Infirmary suffering with hypothermia after she was discovered at Bridge End at around 11.30pm on Friday, March 15.

Police at first cordoned the area off and a man was arrested but later released after the woman decided against making any charges.

Mrs Consoli, who lives at Bridge End, said she had spent most of the day worrying about the condition of her dog, Golda.

"I decided there were more positive aspects about her life than negative, and at around 11.15pm Golda reminded me that she had not been for a walk," she said.

Mrs Consoli had put off her regular walk because of heavy rain, which had also filled the beck which crosses Bridge End.

Golda walked off across towards Bridge End and refused to come back, despite being called by her owner.

"I thought she must have got trapped in the drainage by the beck, so I climbed over the embankment to release her. It was only when I bent down to put her lead on that I saw the woman.

"She was partly submerged and was showing no visible signs of life."

Mrs Consoli, a retired teacher, returned home to call for an ambulance and with a torch returned to the woman.

The police quickly arrived on the scene and the woman's body was pulled from the beck to a waiting police van where Mrs Consoli and officers tried to raise the woman's body temperature before paramedics arrived.

Mrs Consoli said: "We should be thankful that the woman was revived.

"But I sincerely hope she is fully aware of first how near death she came that evening.

"She is a very lucky woman.

"Had it not been for the acute sixth sense of one old dog in alerting me to the situation, combined with the rapid response of very professional police and the immediate on the spot medical attention, this individual would most certainly have died from hypothermia."

"I think Golda was certainly this woman's best friend."