The great St Bernard finally bows out

SWITZERLAND’S noble Saint Bernard dog, famous through the centuries for rescuing avalanche victims buried in the Alps, is finally bowing its sad, massive head - the fabled barrel around its neck now replaced with a ‘for sale’ sign.

Heavy and slow in the deep Alpine snow, expensive to feed and their jobs already taken over by helicopters and heat sensors, the once-proud Saint Bernards have found themselves obsolete and a drain on the resources of the religious order which has raised, trained and kept them since the 1600s.

It is not known when the mighty dogs first started to rescue people, but they are credited with saving some 2,000 travellers over the past 200 years on the Saint Bernard Pass on the border with Italy. But with their usefulness at an end, the Congregation of Canons of the Great Saint Bernard is ready to sell the 18 adults and 16 pups.

Bulky and solid, an adult male can weigh up to 220 pounds and can eat up to 4.4 pounds of meat a day. They also take up a lot of time and energy, says Brother Frederic, one of five religious members living at the hospice.

“At first, and even at the beginning of the century, they were very useful,” said Brother Frederic. “But in 1955, there came the helicopter,” which had limited room for the large dogs.

“The last Saint Bernard was used around 1975,” he said, adding that they’d already largely been replaced by smaller, speedier and lighter-footed golden retrievers and German shepherds to run over the avalanche debris and sniff for victims.

But the Saint Bernards remain the tourist’s best friend. Since the early 1950s, as their usefulness has declined, the dogs have been sent to spend the winter down at the kennels in the valley, first in Econe and now Martigny. During the summer tourist season, they were brought back up to the pass.