leahortez86: Family reunited with missing dog 4 years after it went walkies

Friday, April 8, 2011

Family reunited with missing dog 4 years after it went walkies

A COUPLE have been reunited with their pet dog – almost four years after it bolted from their garden.

Lucy Daynes and Kieron Nixon had given up hope of finding their boxer-rottweiler cross, Kenya, after she fled from their St Matthew's Street home, Fenton, in June 2007.

But Kenya was found by a dog warden wandering the streets in the Pittshill area on Monday afternoon, more than six miles from her home.

The six-year-old is in such good condition that the couple think she must have found another home for the intervening years.

And they say they would be prepared to hand Kenya back to the people who have been looking after her..

Lucy, aged 27, said: "We had given up hope. We had spent months looking for her putting adverts up and we never heard from her again.

"We contacted the RSPCA, dog wardens, local vets, private dogs homes and put adverts in The Sentinel and on Signal Radio.

"We were devastated, because she was an absolutely beautiful dog and got on so well with other dogs."

Kenya had been microchipped with the owner's address and contact telephone number, meaning Kenya could return home on Tuesday after she was found the day before.

"We were shocked because it had been so long. We had been at my parents on Sunday and were talking about how Kenya could turn up out of the blue," added Lucy, a psychologist.

"I was so happy that I rang people at work and all my family. We think someone must have been looking after her, because she was in such good condition.

"The moment I picked up her lead she jumped up so someone must have been walking her."

The couple adopted Kenya from a rescue centre in 2006, along with now seven-year-old collie Taz. They also have a three-year-old pug called Quantum.

Lucy said: "Kenya was a lovely dog, but one day she pulled a fence panel away from the brick wall it was connected to and escaped.

"Taz was also a rescue dog and he was a bit damaged, but Kenya made him a really happy dog. It's quite unbelievable and she's settled back in quite nicely."

Lucy's husband, Kieron, said the couple would now be willing to talk to whoever had been looking after their dog for the four years.

The 27-year-old teacher said: "It's incredible. We're mainly just pleased to know she's alive because you presume the worst. "Knowing she was chipped, we always said there was a chance she could come back, but as time went by it was more unlikely she could turn up again.

"It's weird because we were only having the conversation the other night. We're quite pleased she ended up in good hands."

The couple have now posted messages in pet shops asking the carers to contact them and to see if they can shed any light on how Kenya got from one end of the city to the other.

Keiron added: "Whoever it is has had her quite a bit longer. Realistically we would return her to her most recent home, but hopefully we would be allowed around to visit.

"At the end of the day we want dogs to be in good hands and she would have been, but we'd be very sad to hand her back.

"We don't know what the story is. She could've had several different owners for the last few years, you just don't know."

Vet Kay Lamond told The Sentinel said she couldn't remember a dog missing for longer.

Kay, who works at Rogers, Brock and Barker, in Abbey Hulton, said: "We quite often have cats missing three weeks or a month, but not a dog for this length of time. It's a really good idea to have the animals chipped."