F
our years ago I adopted a
scruffy four-year-old lurcher
and called him Wolfy and
set about falling in love with
him in a way that took me by huge
surprise. I thought the highs and lows
of falling in love were over for me
now that I was nearly 50, but then
I got my first dog and discovered all
those highs again, but with none of
the pain and drama of a human love
story. Thankfully my boyfriend loved
him too – in fact having Wolfy
sleeping between us
on the bed somehow
brought us closer.
Wolfy and I were
inseparable. By day
I found places for us to
hang out like dog-friendly
restaurants and coffee
shops. At night he slept
on my bed. He gave me
so much love that a lot of
sadness in me just disappeared.
We were rarely apart, which is
probably why, when my brother was
dog-sitting him one fateful Halloween,
he panicked. He thought I’d abandoned
him. When my dear little five-year-old
niece opened the front door to trick
or treaters, Wolfy shot out the door. Giving chase
My niece and nephew ran out into the
busy road to catch him. My brother
followed and understandably, seeing
his kids holding a dog standing in the
middle of a busy road, shouted at
them to get inside – and then went
after the dog. Here is the first of many
lessons we learned from this awful
experience. If a dog is spooked and
runs, do not shout or appear to chase
it as it will only run even faster.
When the kids were outside,
Wolfy was just nervy. But when my
brother bellowed, “Wolfy! Come back
here,” and started to go after him,
then Wolfy started running. Really
running! He bolted down busy north
London streets at his top speed
of about 25mph.
My brother lives several miles from
our home in west London, so Wolfy
ran a route we had never walked
together. In full flight mode, a dog“Wolfy belted
down busy
streets at his
top speed of
25mph”
doesn’t stop to write endless
“peemails” on lamp posts and walls
so that he can sniff his way home.
There were several sightings that
night from people we stopped on
streets near where my brother last saw
Wolfy. We’d ask, “Have you seen this
dog?”, thrusting photos under their
noses. The answer often came back
that they had and what they’d seen
had been memorable. People notice
a dog running around on its own. And
especially when it’s running fast. A
lot of responses were of
the “What the hell! I didn’t
know dogs could run that
fast” variety. Then, nothing.
The trail went cold. He
was well and truly lost- that’s if he was still alive.
So started the worst
nine days of my life.
I was devastated
beyond anything I could
have imagined. I feel so uncomfortable
comparing it to a death, but that
is what it felt like. My anguish was
suffocating and I cried buckets.
I had to get my dog back. But how?
A lonely search
Wolfy may have felt to me like
something between a best friend,
a fifth limb and a beloved child, but
in the eyes of the law, he’s just my
property. Like a phone or a lost mitten.
Unless your dog has been stolen,
the police aren’t interested. This is
a very frightening feeling; we rely
on the police to be there in a time
of crisis. I felt very alone.
I swiftly reported the loss
to doglost.co.uk. I made a lost dog
poster on their website and this
wonderful charity shared it with
volunteers in my local area. I also
made my own poster and put it on
social media that first night, intending
to go out and pin it all over the area
he was lost the next day, and the next
day, and the next day if necessary.Helpful strangers
When I fell asleep that night,
I felt so alone. When I woke
up in the morning I saw that
my lost dog poster had been sharedby thousandsofpeopleonsocial
media– includingJeremyClarkson.
It hadgone,astheysay,“viral”.TV
presenterKayBurleyandcomedian
RickyGervaissharedit too.
I hadputa reallygorgeouspicture
of WolfyontheposterandI think
peoplebothfeltmypainandfellin
lovewithhima littlebit.(Heis,afterall,
themostgorgeousdogontheplanet,
to me.)It wasn’tjustfriendsthat
helped– completestrangersprinted
outthepostersandwentoutsticking
themuparoundnorthLondon.
Andthemorepostersthatwent
up, themorepeoplewantedtoget
involved.Becauseofthis,wegot
informationfrompeoplewhothought
theyhadseenhim.Theymightnot
havebeenabletocatchhim,some
mighthaveseenanotherstraydog,
or beenlyingeven,butthiskept
Wolfyandmyhopealive.
BereftasI was,somethingmagical
happened.Thepolicemightnotbe
interested,butnormalpeoplewere.
Andinfact,thepoliceweresweet >>Kate’s plea
asking for help to
find her lost dog
went viralmemoir