The Story Behind the Recovery of a group of Working Gun Dogs

This month sees the first anniversary of the disappearance of a group of working gun dogs. The owners had left their home for a short period of time, returning to find their kennels empty, dogs gone and themselves at the start of an experience we know they never want to face again.

Thankfully they contacted us at the Stolen and Stray Pet Recovery office within days of the theft, allowing us to follow an immediate trail.

Informing the authorities over a wide area and circulating photo's and details to the ports, we started work on the case.

There had been a previous theft in the vicinity although on that occasion both a vehicle and the dogs inside it had been stolen.  It did however provide us with some invaluable information, but it wasn't until we learnt of an unconnected and petty theft involving fuel, that bells began to ring.

At the same time a demand was made for money for the gun dogs.

Walking out into the countryside to hand over a large sum of cash to a total stranger in the hope he is telling the truth, and does indeed have your stolen dog,  is never a situation to be taken lightly.

Every case and situation is different, but with this one we strongly advised the owners not to comply with the request.  Instead our intelligence was handed on to the police who took immediate action, entered a location and retrieved two of the missing dogs.

Both dogs were in good health and had clearly been looked after but upset by their ordeal, they liberally sprinkled the police station with a little more than just mud!

Further work went on that unfortunately we cannot speak about but many calls were received back into our office, that were more than interesting and on occasion alarming, but close contact was kept with the police as another one of the dogs was recovered, leaving only one still missing.

We had some very close shaves with the last dogs recovery and it was several more months before he was located and reunited.

A line of enquiry was being followed that frustratingly did not provide a location.

A  farmer then caught a stray dog on his fields that sounded suspiciously like the one we were searching for. Unfortunately by the time we got hold of the farmer the Dog Warden had collected the dog in question. The Farmer was all but certain by then that the dog he had found and our missing gun dog,  had been one and the same.

Despite frantic calls (it was late on a Friday afternoon that this all happened), the Dog Warden had left work for the weekend and by the time contact was made, the dog had been collected by its "owner".  It was a frustrating and difficult situation.

But as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining and we eventually received information as to the whereabouts of this last dog via someone who had the courage to do the right thing.  I will never forget seeing the tiny image of him that was sent to our mobile phone.  It made me cry.

Within hours he had been recovered and was both in his owners arms and on the way back home.

In total it took six long months of constant daily work but was worth every moment.

The "Stolen or Not Stolen" Question

Has my Dog Been Stolen?

This is often one of the most difficult and yet vital questions to answer once a dog disappears and unless there has been an obvious break-in to a house or kennel,  invariable there is no more than a "hunch" to go on.

This can be so frustrating for a dog owner, particularly if they feel the police are unwilling to take action but without evidence or intelligence that a theft has occurred, it can be a hard one for the police as well.

One golden rule seems to stick out, "expect the unexpected".

There have been occasions when we have had a dog reported as stolen, with compelling evidence that they have indeed been taken, only to find two months later that there was a tragic and sadly fatal accident only hours after they had vanished.

Then on the other hand a few months ago we had two separate cases of spaniels that disappeared on a walk and whilst they were both in different counties, they bore many similarities; both spaniels were well looked after, both were on a walk with someone that was not their owner and both dogs ran off (which was not unusual), but again we were told by their respective owners, that they would always come back.

On this occasion, the spaniel that ran off into open fields and the other spaniel who disappeared into dense woodland, simply vanished.

It would be fair and sensible to conclude that both spaniels were lost, rather than stolen.

The unexpected discovery of one of the dogs collars turned at least one of these situations from a "lost dog" to a "stolen dog", as the collar was discovered many miles away from where she went missing.

With the other spaniel we had no idea she was anything but "lost", although her case was dealt with as a theft and despite the lack of evidence, the police were supportive.

Curiously enough not only did these two Spaniels disappear within a few weeks of each other, they also reappeared around the same time.

One had been sold on from a town 60 miles away from where she disappeared and was located by a chance encounter, whilst the other spaniel was abandoned and picked up a little over 20 miles away from her home. It was evident that the second spaniel had also been kept in a house or kennel as some effort had been taken to either clean her up or disguise her.

These situations reinforce how difficult it can be to answer that initial question, "Has my Dog Been Stolen?"

It also shows how important it is to "expect the unexpected" and follow all avenues, in the search for a missing dog.

Prank Callers

One of the things we do in the Stolen and Stray Pet Recovery office is provide the owner of a missing pet with a poster.  For a number of reasons we advice them to use our telephone number.

If a member of the public has information that could get themselves in trouble, have potentially sad news, or are worried they will give the owner of a missing pet false hope, they can be much less likely to call an owner directly.

One of the other reasons we suggest using our office number is to avoid the heartache of prank calls.

It seems bewildering that people find at best making a nuisance call and at worse a thoroughly malicious one, a source of entertainment.

Many of the calls are random and just ridiculous, but there are always those that are totally vindictive and malicious.

It is bad enough listening to these calls ourselves, often late at night, when the phones are on out-of-hours transfer, so unimaginable for the owner of a much loved and stray pet to have to listen to.

The people who make these calls seem to be oblivious to the fact that they are dealing with real people, who may have other very tragic things happening in their lives, as well as trying to find a missing pet.

Having listened to many of these calls I am at a loss to explain why taunting people who are clearly vulnerable and already extremely upset is considered appropriate, let alone a source of pleasure.

Missing Pets and the Summer Holiday Dilemma

So far it has been an eventful week in the Stolen and Stray Pet Recovery office. We are waiting to hear news of Teddie, a very handsome British Blue Shorthair cat who just may be on his way home.  We have everything crossed that he is the beautiful cat we were phoned about earlier this evening. Teddie has been missing for nearly two weeks.

The call we received half an hour ago sounded hopeful.

We are fast approaching the time of year when we feel even more than normal for the owners of long term missing pets, as some we know are contemplating the concern over taking a holiday (often booked long before their pet was stolen or strayed), against leaving the search for their pet for a week or two away.

Caught between the conflict of the desperate need to continue looking, or the expectations of their immediate family, the summer holidays can be fraught.

This is perhaps something that is difficult to understand until you are in their position.

For us we hear on a daily basis the devastation of pet owners whose lives are turned upside down at the loss of their pet, whether it has run off, escaped or been stolen.  Trying to deal with the complexities of the world of missing pets they are often filled with disbelief, guilt and at times despair.

It is terrible to hear kind, good people berating themselves for what they should or could have done at a particular point, unable to accept that what has happened is no more than a simple accident, or the coming together of several events, that have led to the disappearance of a much loved animal.

And so comes the issue of taking a summer holiday, one that they are desperately in need of but is linked into an endless list of what might happen whilst they are away.

After months, and in some cases years invested in searching, it is desperately hard to take a "guilt free" break.

We have just such a situation going on at the moment, where a feral dog who has been on the run for many months has managed to become a regular visitor at a peaceful location and whilst food is being left, scent trails are being made and a currently unset trap put in place, the owner is also facing a count down to a very much needed family holiday.

The sad truth is that for many people they are blissfully unaware of what a totally devastating experience it is when your dog, cat, horse or pet bird who is such a close member of your family just simply vanishes, often leaving little if any trace at all.

We consider it a privilege to help these owners and do all we can to find out what has happened to their pets, support and advice them, what ever the circumstances.

And on that note, we have just heard from Kimberley the owner of Teddie.  On getting our call earlier she went straight round to the address we gave her, to find the "stray" already secured in a cat basket.  She said she hardly dare look, but recognised Teddie immediately as he let out a plaintive meow. How wonderful is that!  Not surprisingly she cried.

Thank you so much to Tim and his lovely wife who were so quick to call the office having seen one of our posters and for scooping up Teddie, as well as making sure he had food over the last few days.  Fantastic work.