Owner remortgages house to find champion dog
A distraught dog owner has remortgaged her house to allow her to offer a record £10,000 reward for the return of her champion dog. It is believed to be the largest reward ever offered for a missing pet, with a previous record of £5,000.
The four-year-old German short-haired pointer named Angel was stolen last month from a car park, while her owner Dawn Maw was walking her and her three other dogs. As she helped one of them into her car, the driver of a white transit van reportedly took the dog and put her in the back of his vehicle before speeding off. Police have so far been unable to trace the culprit.
Angel is one of only two show and working champions of her breed in the country, and it is suspected that this is why she was targeted. She has been microchipped and spayed but, unusually, her tail has not been docked. Mrs Maw said: "I worry that whoever has taken her might have now docked her to make her less noticeable."
At the cost of £3,000 Mrs Maw distributed 35,000 business cards and put up 15,000 posters. She has even hired a pet detective agency to find the dog, who has won five champion titles at dog shows. A Facebook page has led to thousands of supporters donating £3,000 towards the reward to help find Angel. Mrs Maw has now taken out an extra £7,000 on the mortgage of her house, making the total reward £10,000.
Mrs Maw has said she has no misgivings about stumping up the five-figure reward. After initially offering £3,000 with no positive leads, she said: "I am desperate to get my dog back and I thought the best and quickest way to do this was to remortgage the house to make the reward fee £10,000." The reward is for the dog's safe return or for information that leads directly to her, Dawn says.
Colin Butcher of The Pet Detectives agency who has been hired by Mrs Maw said: "We use a system to find animals involving investigating subjects and gathering evidence or eliminating them, and we are investigating two lines of enquiry in relation to this dog."
Two independent vets have launched a podcast to help owners strengthen their bond with pets. Dr Maggie Roberts and Dr Vanessa Howie, who have worked in both veterinary practice and major charities, are keen to use their experience to enable people to give pets a better life.
