Clare Balding hopes to reunite devastated families with missing dogs on new show
We are a nation of dog lovers with around 10million of us owning a pooch. But 40% of people have suffered a pet go missing and 60% of these are never found.
Now a TV show aims to change that by reuniting devastated owners with their beloved hounds.
Lost Dogs Live, on Channel 5 tonight is presented by sports presenter and pet lover Clare Balding.
It will appeal for any information that may reunite these dedicated dog lovers with their beloved mutts and help them heal their broken hearts.
Rocky and Marnie
Catherine said it was "horrendous" when her dogs ran off from their walkerThis lucky pair ran off on a walk with the dog boarder they had been left with while their owners were away on holiday.
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Catherine was so upset she flew home from Spain to help search for the two dogs leaving her husband Neal behind with the kids because she couldn’t face letting them know what was going on.
“Losing them was so horrendous. I just remember feeling so helpless because I was abroad and couldn’t do anything,” 48-year-old Catherine, from Horsley, Surrey, explains.
“It was just awful. The kids were only seven and four and adored Rocky and Marnie. It’s almost like a bereavement not knowing what’s happened, whether they have died or if you’ll ever see them again.”
Catherine is one of the lucky ones who did manage to track down her lost pups – red gold cavapoos – after calling in the experts, asking the general public for help and offering a generous reward.
She’ll never forget how elated she was to have them both home after someone came forward to say they’d found them.
“Every day we thank our lucky stars that we got them back,” she smiles.
“We received so much help from people we didn’t even know, it just goes to show there are more good people in the world than bad. Now we don’t let the dogs out of our sight. I can’t explain what an incredible relief it is.”
Cookie
Lavinia hoped her baby and dog Cookie would grow up togetherLavinia Bonea, who lost her Maltipoo Cookie in June, is pregnant and was hoping her baby and her pet would grow up together and be best of friends.
Lavinia, 30, says: “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.”
Recalling how she heard the news Cookie had vanished in Barham Park, Wembley, north London, she says: “I remember screaming when my dad told me. Honestly, it was the worst sadness I’ve ever experienced.
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“I cry every morning when I walk past the park on my way to work. I need to know what happened to her. Where is she?”
Cookie is a cross between a Maltese and a Poodle. She is like a fluffy, brown teddy bear with distinctive white patches on her legs and a white patch on her chest.
Lavinia describes her as a gentle, playful and friendly dog, who loves humans and wouldn’t stop smiling the minute her owner walked through the door after work.
She suspects another family has welcomed Cookie into their home and lives.
And although she prefers to play out this scenario than imagine a much worse fate for Cookie, Lavinia desperately needs her pet back home with her.
Lavinia says: “I’ve had her since she was just three months old and she is the best dog, absolutely perfect.
“Not knowing what happened to her is just the worst thing.
“It would mean everything to me to have her home again.”
Frankie
Frankie bolted from the family home after a firework went offWhen a firework went off right next to her, Frankie bolted from the field she was in out of fear.
Seen running across a main road, she made her own way back to where she was staying, but couldn’t get in so kept running. It’s been horrendous for her owner Dawn Littler and her family.
“I’ll never forget the phone call,” she says. “We were on holiday but my daughter rang and was just screaming.
“It’s been eight months of hell. It feels like you’ve lost one of your children.”
Her daughter Megan is struggling to come to terms with that day’s events even though Dawn, from Manchester, reminds her that in the circumstances Frankie, a golden cavapoo, would have bolted from anybody.
Desperate to find her, they have contacted every vet and groomers in the UK and set up a Facebook page which has over 14,000 followers as well as offering a £15,000 reward.
“Somebody must know something,” the 48-year-old says. “Maybe she was picked up and sold before we put the reward out. She’s such a friendly dog, I just can’t imagine her being out there on her own for eight months.
“She’s apricot coloured with ginger ears and tail and a very black nose.
“If I could have her back I’d never leave her again. I just need her home. We’ll never give up looking for her.”
Isla
Isla has been missing since 2018For some dog owners, the search for their beloved pet can span years.
Paula Appleby lost Isla, a white German Shepherd, in October 2018 when a delivery driver accidentally left the garden gate open.
The family had two dogs who both went missing but found one, Izzy, the next day. They now believe Isla was found by a member of the public and kept as their family pet.
It’s not just owners that pine for their pets, Izzy never got over losing her friend. “It was awful to watch Izzy pining for her,” Paula, from Gailey, Staffs, says. “She wouldn’t eat properly for weeks and used to sit at the front door waiting for her to come home. She died in March and never got to say bye.”
Isla was wearing a red collar with beige bones the night she disappeared and has a pink nose which her owner says got lighter and lighter as she got older.
“We’ll never give up hope,” Paula, 58, sighs. “It would mean the world if we got her back, like all Christmases and birthdays had come at once.”
- Lost Dogs Live is on Channel 5 tonight at 8pm.
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