Browse Sections

• Barlow's brief
• Education
• Special reports

Runaway dog back home after 4 years

Gavin Hird
22/ 3/2006

IT MAY sound like a shaggy dog story, but a devoted Macclesfield couple gave up their jobs - and their home - to spend FOUR YEARS searching for their pet pooch who went missing 350 miles away.

Such an amazing display of dogged determination paid off when David Hunt and his wife Nicola finally tracked down beloved collie cross Holly - in Cornwall.

They turned their lives upside down when the daredevil mutt escaped from boarding kennels close to their 2002 honeymoon spot.

After moving to the south coast, the couple eventually closed in on her in the Liskeard area. But the each time they approached Holly, the highly strung dog panicked and fled again.

Up to 300 helpers followed up several leads over the years, along with Caradon District Council dog wardens and the RSPCA.

But even they were unable to catch her, despite using traps and bait laced with sedatives.

Caradon's senior animal welfare officer, Checkie Taylor, said: "With the best intentions in the world, no-one could catch this dog. We all tried many times and failed.

"Once we had her surrounded by three RSPCA inspectors and two dog wardens, and she still managed to get away."

However, black and tan Holly was finally captured after she wandered through the back door of a house and was trapped inside.

She was taken to the Pelynt Kennels near Looe, where 43-year-old David was reunited with her last week after 1,395 days.

He said: "I'm amazed we've got her back after such a long time. We've been counting every day.

"She seems perfectly fine and looks happy, but we'll certainly be making sure she doesn't run away again."

David and 30-year-old Nicola, who have children Thomas, two, and six-month-old Oliver, spent two years travelling to Cornwall from Macclesfield every weekend when Holly first did her vanishing act.

But when the strain proved too much, David gave up a thriving printing business and Nicola her marketing job so they could move home.

The pair spent days patrolling the streets of Liskeard and putting up posters - one of which helped identify Holly after she walked into the strangers' house.

David, now an environmental consultant, said: "I'm surprised she was found this way, but we refused to give up hope."

Caradon dog warden, Jon Lane, said: "You can't ask for a happier ending than this one."