For a small English village in a relatively low crime area, Windlesham in Surrey has been experiencing an unusually high rate of doggy disappearances.
Opinion is divided. Is the growing list of family pets reported missing, down to local dogs merely trotting off into the unknown, giddy with a sudden and newly found sense of freedom, but then getting themselves hopelessly lost, unable to return to whence they came? Or are there more sinister forces at work?
In October 2011, when three dogs went missing from the village in a ten day period, Police urged local dog owners to be alert and extra vigilant. The news of the vanishing hounds even made the national press.
But a few days later, Surrey Heath Borough Council and Surrey Police issued a joint statement saying there was no evidence that any dogs had been stolen.
No firm evidence, perhaps. There was an uncorroborated eyewitness statement which said one of the dogs, Archie, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pup and well known furry face from the local newsagent who had wandered outside for a breath of fresh air, was scooped up by a woman in a four wheel drive vehicle and spirited off to who-knows-where.
A spokesman for the borough council said its dog warden was not aware of this claim and so, the owners of Archie, who was only 7 months old at the time, are still searching for him, largely unaided by anyone, other than a resolute group of friends, family and dog loving volunteers from the national Canine Community Online Doglost.co.uk.
From the day the first dog, Evie, a grey Cairn terrier, resplendent in red collar and address tag, went missing from her home in Hatton Hill, suspicions among the local dog owning fraternity were raised that theft was the likely culprit.
More so, when Bonnie, Archie, Polly and Jamie joined suit. Four more small dogs, vanishing without trace. Only in Archie’s case, and there is no reason to disbelieve it, regardless whether the local warden was informed, there was a witness to his disappearance.
The owners involved have not been tardy in their efforts to discount any alternative theory, either.
As ardent dog lovers, who firmly believe that their pet is a member of the family, they have turned the tiny village of Windlesham upside down, on no less than six occasions, while searching for their missing dogs.
Sue Lilley, owner of Border Terrier Pixie, the latest pet to disappear, has spent countless hours walking the highways and byways looking for any sign of her beloved pet.
Since Pixie vanished from the family home in Snows Ride, near the A30 London Road, on Tuesday 26 June this year, she has put up countless posters for miles around.
She has conducted a fingertip search through local fields in case her little dog has got stuck down a rabbit hole or behind fencing. The Highways Agency and National Rail have been contacted.
The local newsagents (the very same people who are still searching for Archie) have added “Help find Pixie” flyers to each paper they deliver in the morning. Postmen, milkmen and any other person she can find in the village have been asked to keep an eye out.
Doglost.co.uk volunteers who are alerted to a locally missing dog via email, have joined forces to become “Team Pixie” - to help in the search, both on foot and online.
Pixie now has her own website www.whereispixie.co.uk, which has already seen over 500 hits in less than a week, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed and an army of total strangers devoting their time and energy into finding her.
Sightings and leads, however unlikely, are being followed up daily. There is every hope that the proven technique of making a “lost” dog too hot to handle will work and that Pixie will miraculously appear again, to be reunited with her distraught family.
A large financial reward has been offered in the hope this will speed up that process, but as yet, nothing has been heard.
A fellow Border Terrier owner in Ascot found herself so desperate to help that she employed the services of a clairvoyant, in the hope that an answer to Pixie’s whereabouts would be found. But no.
It is, of course, entirely possible that all six of these little dogs, were never stolen.
That all escaped, and that at time of writing, they are either still wandering as strays, or have met an untimely end of some description.
Possible yes, but more unlikely as time goes on. Surely, one of these missing pets would have been found by now and that the owner would have received a visit from a solemn faced neighbour, bearing the sad tidings that a dog had been found, but that the news was not good.
But they have absolutely nothing. No sightings, no news, good, bad or indifferent. Not one of the missing dogs has turned up, alive or otherwise. Nothing, not even a faded, frayed collar has been turned up in the hunt for the “Windlesham Six”.
The desperate families who have seen their pets disappear from the village, are still entirely convinced dog theft is the most likely cause.
And perhaps they are right? For when a beloved pet does go missing without explanation and the owners have exhausted every other possible reason for the disappearance, what other option is there?
The nationwide search for all these much loved pets will continue, until there is an answer.
“Someone must have let the dogs out, but who, who, who, who who?”
Author's note: Since time of writing, Jamie has been found which is great news. Let's find the others now.
MORE INTERESTING READING....
SURREY LIFE: Another missing dog in Windlesham 05 July 2012
The local newsagents (the very same people who are still searching for Archie) have added “Help find Pixie” flyers to each paper they deliver in the morning. Postmen, milkmen and any other person she can find in the village have been asked to keep an eye out.
Doglost.co.uk volunteers who are alerted to a locally missing dog via email, have joined forces to become “Team Pixie” - to help in the search, both on foot and online.
Pixie now has her own website www.whereispixie.co.uk, which has already seen over 500 hits in less than a week, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed and an army of total strangers devoting their time and energy into finding her.
Sightings and leads, however unlikely, are being followed up daily. There is every hope that the proven technique of making a “lost” dog too hot to handle will work and that Pixie will miraculously appear again, to be reunited with her distraught family.
A large financial reward has been offered in the hope this will speed up that process, but as yet, nothing has been heard.
A fellow Border Terrier owner in Ascot found herself so desperate to help that she employed the services of a clairvoyant, in the hope that an answer to Pixie’s whereabouts would be found. But no.
It is, of course, entirely possible that all six of these little dogs, were never stolen.
That all escaped, and that at time of writing, they are either still wandering as strays, or have met an untimely end of some description.
Possible yes, but more unlikely as time goes on. Surely, one of these missing pets would have been found by now and that the owner would have received a visit from a solemn faced neighbour, bearing the sad tidings that a dog had been found, but that the news was not good.
But they have absolutely nothing. No sightings, no news, good, bad or indifferent. Not one of the missing dogs has turned up, alive or otherwise. Nothing, not even a faded, frayed collar has been turned up in the hunt for the “Windlesham Six”.
The desperate families who have seen their pets disappear from the village, are still entirely convinced dog theft is the most likely cause.
And perhaps they are right? For when a beloved pet does go missing without explanation and the owners have exhausted every other possible reason for the disappearance, what other option is there?
The nationwide search for all these much loved pets will continue, until there is an answer.
“Someone must have let the dogs out, but who, who, who, who who?”
Author's note: Since time of writing, Jamie has been found which is great news. Let's find the others now.
MORE INTERESTING READING....
SURREY LIFE: Another missing dog in Windlesham 05 July 2012
BBC NEWS: Windlesham dogs disappear sparking Surrey Police alert Oct 02 2011
DAILY TELEGRAPH: Police warn pet owners after a spate of Surrey dog thefts Oct 02 2011
GET SURREY: Dog theft rumours rejected amid disappearances Oct 07 2011
THE PET DETECTIVES: Stolen Windlesham Dogs Oct 07 2011
My Border terrier, Archie, was picked up from outside my garden in November 2010. The driver of the white transit-type van must have been able to see me standing on the roadside calling but didn't stop. Archie is microchipped and I called the local police who wouldn't issue a crime number or take it seriously as I 'didn't actually see the dog being taken' only saw him there and then saw him not there after the parked van drove off. It was dusk so I didn't get a reg number. This sort of thing is happening all over the country (we are in Norfolk) but even now dog wardens, vets etc don't routinely scan dogs (or cats for that matter) when they come in contact with them. We really need to make it harder for anyone to keep a dog without a chip so they would be less likely to be stolen in the first place.
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