A CLIMBER who abandoned his lame dog on Scottish mountain has been trolled by social media users.
Paul Finnegan, from Shotts, North Lanarkshire, made the heartbreaking decision to leave Meg behind in horrendous weather up a 3,074ft mountain on Sunday (JAN 14).
Mountain Rescue experts said they had no issue with Paul’s decision to take Meg up the mountain and sympathised with the choice he made to put his own survival first.
But that has not stopped numerous social media users from lashing out, dubbing him an “absolute a*******”, a “heartless s***” and a “k***head”.
Family members took to Paul’s defence, insisting that the trolls did not understand what a difficult it was for him to make.
Volunteer searchers, including Paul, are still searching for Meg five days after she went lame on Beinn Sguilard, Argyll and Bute, on Sunday.
On social media, Morag McNeill was among those to lambast Paul, writing: “I am actually raging and sad at the same time.
“I am naming and shaming this absolute a*******. Paul Finnegan from Shotts, took his border collie Meg up Beinn Sgulaird at the weekend. She got tired and her legs gave way, she’s 12, and he left her up there to die.
“Anybody who knows him please tell him what a vile person he is. He doesn’t deserve the love of a dog.”
Karen Mills lashed out: “Every time I read something on Missing Megs group I get more and more angry towards the owner. That poor dog would never have left his side if it was him that was hurt. He should be prosecuted for abandonment and neglect. K***head.”
Dorothy Dot Marshall commented: “It was an act of pure cruelty. It is against the law to let any animal suffer, only a coward would do that.”
And Emma Hardy wrote: “I can’t believe the amount of people defending the heartless s***, people are risking their lives to try to find her and he’s just going about his usual week.”
The barrage of abuse led to one of Paul’s family members taking to social media to defend him.
In a lengthy post Holli McGowan said: “Paul never left Meg for dead. Paul had no signal and tried his hardest to carry her. Between him and his friend he carried her for as long as possible while falling and fighting against the wind and rain.
“Paul went to get help, so please until you know the full story, stop listening to people’s bulls because I am sick to the back teeth of hearing so many nasty comments. People are full of s*** and don’t give a s*** how this makes other people look.”
Another of Paul’s family members confirmed that he was returning to Beinn Sguilard today (FRI) to lead the search, and that has been struggling to cope since Meg went missing.
Andy Ravenhill, Oban Mountain Rescue Team Leader, said that the criticism levelled at the dog owner was harsh.
He said: “It wasn’t the right choice or wrong choice. No one can really tell what they would do in that situation until they are in it.
“It would have been a really hard decision to make, and he will just have to live with it either way.”
