The start of a new year and I had a rare reminder of the amazing things that people will do for our common love of our furry friends.
Last week my sister in laws dog bolted at the local park. She became spooked by workmen handling heavy machinery. She is microchipped, spayed and was wearing a collar.
However as the evening set in there still hadn’t been any sightings of her. We all became extremely worried as the temperature dropped to -4 celsius and the cold wind whipped our faces. We searched and searched. My sister in law, (who at the time was 8 months pregnant) and her partner were understandably heartbroken. If you have ever been in such a situation yourselves then you will know that the feeling of losing a member of your family is devastating. We searched late into the night with no luck.
The following morning with little or no sleep we hoped that somebody had found her, kept her overnight and would ring the dog warden that morning and we would soon have the little dog back in our arms. The day dragged on with no sight or sound. By this point we had exhausted all resources having contacted all of the local vets, rescue centres, grooming parlours, pet shops, local wardens, the police, k9 search UK, anyone we could think of who was dog related. We also put several post out on social media sites and posters around the local area offering a substantial reward.
The response we had was nothing that we could have ever imagined. The facebook post was shared thousands of times in a few hours. The positive thoughts and supportive messages came flooding in. On top of that the messages and phone calls from people in the local area offering their help and support. Many of these people were complete strangers. Several teams of people rallied together to search for the gorgeous little girl. Other people asked if they could have a picture of her so that they could put together and print out leaflets to give out in the local area. Another night came and went.
The following morning we had started to lose hope. We were worried that she wouldn’t have survived the cold or that someone had managed to snatch her. As the afternoon came we received a phone call from a neighbour, who had been in the thick undergrowth near where she was last seen, calling her name. The neighbour caught the first sighting of her in over 50 hours everyone ran to the area and my partner retrieved her from the thick brambles. She was cold, scratched and hungry but alive and well. Tears of joy and happiness came spilling down everyones faces.
Out of all the horrible reports in today’s news and with all the evil and sadness in this world, to see the care and compassion of people who have dropped everything to help and support complete strangers is phenomenal. It is proof that their are some amazing people in this world and when it comes to our canine companions, the sky is the limit.
