October 24th 2024.
The next event on our radar is the thrilling capture of a dog who caused quite a stir by escaping while her owners were vacationing. The beloved dog, Phoebe, had been entrusted to a family friend in Dartford while Nicola Patterson, her owner, was away enjoying some time in Majorca with her family. However, things took a turn for the worse when Phoebe managed to escape through the back gate of the garden and disappeared without a trace. Nicola was devastated when she received the phone call informing her of the news and immediately hopped on the next flight back home.
After a sleepless night and a long flight, Nicola arrived back in Stansted at 2am on Thursday morning. Despite her exhaustion, she wasted no time and began searching for her beloved pet by 5am. There were several sightings of Phoebe across Kent, but she seemed to have crossed over the A2 on a footbridge before getting spooked and running off towards industrial units. This led to a report of her being spotted on the side of the A2, causing a temporary closure of the road, but unfortunately, she was nowhere to be found.
As the days went by, Phoebe's disappearance caused seven more motorway closures, causing distress and worry for her owner and many others. The charity Lost Dog Discovery UK joined in on the search and even received permission to set up cameras on the M25 to aid in the search. After a couple of days, Nicki Scriven, who works at the charity, finally caught a glimpse of Phoebe on the cameras. She immediately contacted Nicola and shared the good news, saying, "I've seen her, I've seen her - she's on the camera."
With confirmation from Nicola, the team was granted permission to set up a dog trap that night. Despite luring Phoebe with delicious treats like doner kebabs and sausages, she refused to go near the trap and even ignored the expensive food that was laid out for her. Nicki didn't give up and spent hours sitting on the hard shoulder, watching Phoebe eat all the other food while ignoring the trap.
Finally, on September 7th, after suspending traffic again, the team was able to set up a second trap. And at around 11:20 pm, Phoebe was spotted circling the trap for eight minutes before finally walking inside. The team was ecstatic, and video footage captured the heartwarming moment when Phoebe was finally lured into the trap. Nicki even arrived in her van shortly after to meet Phoebe and reunite her with her owner.
After almost two weeks of turmoil, Phoebe was finally back home with her family. Despite being a bit skinnier and having some skin missing from her paws, she was otherwise unharmed and full of energy. Nicola shared, "She was bouncing around like she'd just been out for a walk, not that she'd been missing for 11 days." The reunion couldn't have come at a more perfect time as it was also her husband's birthday, making it a special birthday present for him.
Looking back on the whole ordeal, Nicola couldn't believe the impact Phoebe's disappearance had. They received messages from people all over the world who owned the same breed, and the number of people who went out searching for her was incredible. Since her return, Phoebe has become more confident and barks more frequently, but Nicola says it's a small price to pay to have her beloved dog home safe and sound.
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