Happy ending dog story

[gogs67]

Although it kinda blows out the water the theory of dogs havin a 'homing' instinct! Jeez 550 miles in the opposite direction!


Owners of a dog which had been missing for more than four months have been left wondering how she ended up more than 550 miles away in East Lothian. Sonya and William McKerron said 17-year-old collie, Lucy, vanished within minutes of them turning their backs at their home in Cornwall on 6 February.
They told BBC Scotland how they hunted everywhere for her but to no avail.
They had given up hope of seeing their dog again when they received a call from the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home.
Lucy was reunited with her owners on Tuesday after they received a call on Saturday and drove up from their cottage in Cornwall.
A family in Haddington called the police when they found Lucy had wandered into their garden and she was taken to the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home to be scanned for a micro-chip.
Mrs McKerron said: "It feels overwhelming to see her as we didn't think we would ever find her again.



"I was in the house and I went to the toilet and when I came out she was gone from the drive, never to be seen again.
"We hunted high and low, phoned everybody including rescue centres and because she is chipped we thought we would find her.
"She is not a wanderer but from now on I will be keeping an eye on her so that nobody steals her."
Dave Ewing, Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home manager, said he suspected Lucy had been taken by someone rather than having just become lost.
"I am confident Lucy was taken by someone either because they thought she was genuinely lost and they were doing her a favour or they knew they shouldn't have taken her.
"When we saw her chip had a Cornish phone number we thought we would just try it but we were expecting it to be an old number and that her owners had moved.
"So the staff here were over the moon to find the owners still lived there and that they could be reunited with Lucy."
He added that it proved that chipping pets "pays off".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/8115122.stm

[harpy]

Blimey - would someone really steal a 17 year old collie? ...Seems more likely she hopped into someone's car or van. Anyway, all's well that ends well!

Chipping is definitely worthwhile. The council here do it for nothing periodically - the offer is only only for dogs, not cats, though.

[Mahk]

^By some estimates 2 million dogs are stolen in the US annually. This is especially true where clandestine dog fighting rings operate. [Warning the following is graphic. Stop reading now if you are sensitive.] They need a constant supply of disposable "bait dogs" for their prize fighters to practice on before the real fights. Typically the bait dogs have their mouths duct taped shut so the they won't harm the killer they face. Just sick, I know, but a danger all of us with animals must face, so I thought to point it out for cautionary purposes.

[harpy]

That does happen here as well unfortunately, but ISTR that most dog thefts here tend to be people who want to resell the dog for money (e.g. to buy drugs) and you probably wouldn't get much for an ancient collie. (But if you were really stoned you might not realise that.)

Amazingly, there's a dog with its own web page offering some anti-theft advice:

http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/informat...ions/dogtheft/

[*live*&*let*live]

Elsie is chipped (she was a rescue) and I also paid for a service that logs her details on a database if she should ever get lost. She has a special id tag on her collar that people can ring, if they can't reach me for some reason. Not everyone can access a microchip! Think its just RSPCA etc. Great happy ending story. There was one in the Guardian a few months ago, mum kept the clip for me about a dog that went overboard in the ocean during a storm. They thought she had died and left she swam through shark infested waters for five nautical miles (is this further than land?) and got to an island where she survived for four months. She was found by park rangers and the owners found out and contacted them. Even after all that time had passed she went berserk when she saw her 'family' and is now happy back at home. Mum joked and said she could see me sailing round and round in the same spot and would never leave! true actually!
Mahk that really is sad

[kriz]

^By some estimates 2 million dogs are stolen in the US annually. This is especially true where clandestine dog fighting rings operate. [Warning the following is graphic. Stop reading now if you are sensitive.] They need a constant supply of disposable "bait dogs" for their prize fighters to practice on before the real fights. Typically the bait dogs have their mouths duct taped shut so the they won't harm the killer they face. Just sick, I know, but a danger all of us with animals must face, so I thought to point it out for cautionary purposes.

Thanks for posting this, Mahk. I never leave my dog in the car or tied outside a store - he's always with me except from when he's home alone. Even then, I make sure EVERYTHING is locked and safe.

It's so horrible what they (dog fighters) do to them! It's so sick, and I'm sure they would do it to humans too, if there was money to be made and they could get away with it as easily. I think any animal rights person is aware of the connection between cruelty to animals and humans and that it is done with the same frame of mind. That should make it even more important to fight against - because it can affect us all. I wish the rest of society would see it the same way and that stricter laws were in place.

[RubyDuby]

Although it kinda blows out the water the theory of dogs havin a 'homing' instinct! Jeez 550 miles in the opposite direction!

17 years old! she's probably senile.
lucky she's microchipped.

[gogs67]

17 years old! she's probably senile.
lucky she's microchipped.

Never thought of that!

[*live*&*let*live]

Still, it's a looooooooooong way to go on her own unassisted. It must have taken weeks. How did she eat? Seems fishy to me. All's well that end's well tho', thanks for posting Gogs! Have you been on the 'what does your user name mean' thread? Interesting name you have there!

[Mahk]

Still, it's a looooooooooong way to go on her own unassisted. It must have taken weeks. How did she eat? Seems fishy to me.

Could be :
[YOUTUBE]LYSPQqUvNO0[/YOUTUBE]
If you ask me the fish got away in the last frame, but there are numerous similar videos on youtube. This was just the first that came up from a search on "dog fishing".

[*live*&*let*live]

Well thought it was gonna be a funny one Mahk, being ironic and all, with my reference to 'fishy' but it was kinda sad Love your posts though as they are always informative and interesting.

[Mahk]

But the fish got away, in the end, don't you think? That's why they cut it off like they do. They (the pro-fishing people) don't want us to see the dog actually failed.

Anyway dogs can be quite inventive when it comes to food.

[*live*&*let*live]

Not sure if it got away just kept thinking of all the puncture wounds. Mind you he (the dog) seemed to be quiet gentle (keeps telling herself!) so if he did get away it would have been ok.

[gogs67]

And now, here's a happy ending cat story!!!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/8147270.stm

A couple from Scotland have been reunited with their cat following his 150-mile mystery journey to Cumbria. Steven and Laura Buick said they had all but given up hope of finding Rocco after he disappeared from their Edinburgh home three weeks ago.
However, he was discovered at the Tebay service station, and taken to the Animal Rescue Centre near Grayrigg.
He had no collar but had been been microchipped, which allowed his owners to be identified.
It is not known how Rocco came to be so far from home, but one theory is he may have stowed away on board a lorry, and then taken up a temporary home at the Tebay service station.
Rebecca Walker, of the rescue centre, described the result as remarkable.
She said: "It's rare for cats to be microchipped, but to have come this far it's just crazy really."
Rocco was reunited with his owners on Sunday, who said they were delighted to have him back.

[fiamma]

What a great story! Cats are incredible creatures.

[gogs67]

I'm starting to see a pattern here though. All these animals trying to escape Scotland and getting foiled just as they think they've made it!

[*live*&*let*live]

MmmMmmmmh don't forget Lassie too!

[gogs67]

Lost dog found - nine years later

pa.press.net

A dog that went missing nine years ago has been found alive and well some 1,200 miles away from its original home.
Inspectors from Australia's RSPCA were investigating a possible animal cruelty case at a home in Melbourne when they found the dog, called Muffy, sleeping outside on a scrap of cardboard.
A microchip in Muffy's neck identified her owners and after a few days of searching for a current phone number, officials tracked down Natalie Lampard, who had not seen Muffy since she disappeared from her garden in Brisbane nine years ago.
"When the RSPCA described her, I told them her name; I knew immediately it was our Muffy," Ms Lampard said. "It was totally out of the blue - after nine years, I thought she was long gone."
The owners of the Melbourne house where Muffy was discovered said they found the dog about a year ago wandering along a street. But where had Muffy spent the previous eight years? And how did she get all the way to Melbourne - about 1,200 miles from Brisbane?
"Nobody knows," an RSPCA spokesman said. "The mystery continues for old Muffy."
Ms Lampard got Muffy as a gift for her now 17-year-old daughter Chloe, and the two had been inseparable.
"After the RSPCA called, I rang my daughter and asked her if she was sitting down, then told her they'd found Muffy," Ms Lampard said.
"She's over the moon and there'll be a few tears shed when they see each other again. But just how she got down to Melbourne I guess is a mystery that will never be answered."

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article...ntid=148891584

[*live*&*let*live]

Awwww how lovely Gogs...sleeping on a piece of cardboard outside indeed hmmmph

[Roxy]

What a happy ending story Thanks for posting!

[fiamma]

What a cool story Gogs!!! Dogs are the business

[sandra]

It's great to hear the dogs got home safe in these stories.

[gogs67]

Hopefully this one turns out ok, for the owners sake at least. I'm sure the dog will get a loving home no matter what!!!!

Dog 'fell off the back of a lorry'

pa.press.net

A boxer dog which fell off the back of a lorry after a 1,300-mile trip from Spain is being made an internet star in a bid to reunite it with its owner.
Angel was found in the car park of the B&Q store in Taunton, Somerset, and handed in to animal welfare officers who thought she was just another stray.
But they were shocked to discover she was microchipped and her home was listed at an address in Malaga, Spain.
Officers at Somerset County Council's animal health and welfare team said Angel, a nine-year-old red and white boxer, is thought to have illegally entered the UK in a lorry.
They have been trying to locate her owner but so far have had no success.
So they have made a film about her story called Angel Falls Off The Back Of A Lorry and posted it on YouTube, hoping to attract worldwide publicity and that her owner will come forward.
Helen Gloyn, senior animal health and welfare inspector, said the dog was taken to the RSPCA West Hatch centre near Taunton by a member of the public who found her in the car park.
"We made some inquiries with the local police and Defra but have been unable to trace anybody. The RSPCA made further inquiries and found her microchip and that she was first registered to an address in Malaga.
"It is likely that Angel may have been in the UK for some time and was imported into the country in compliance with legislation but in the absence of that information we have to consider the chance that she may have come here on a lorry from Europe or further afield."
Angel is now being cared for by the South Western Boxer Club during her six-month quarantine. They said they will look to re-home her if she is not reunited with her owner.

[danaeonyx]

My brother got followed home by a cat once (we live in surrey) so he checked her collar and called the number, she had come from Wales