Bring Molly Home!
On Tuesday the 16th of July at about 6am, Molly was running around the garden gate entrance, barking at a neighbour taking her own dog for a walk. Linda was not far away, and moments from taking Molly inside to calm her down when Molly darted further up the garden, out of sight behind some bushes, and went silent. That was the last time we saw her.
About Molly
Molly is a 17 month old red coated, working-breed Golden Retriever. Microchipped and recently spayed, she suffers from a very mild form of epilepsy that periodically causes her jaws to chatter uncontrollably. Her unusually red-ish coat makes her highly distinctive. Normally very friendly and eager to play with anyone or any other dog.
From the breeder, she started life with a young family who hoped she'd be a good calming influence on their autistic daughter. Sadly this wasn't to be, and after a number of weeks, Steve and Linda bought the young puppy home.
For the next three months, Steve spent his retirement enjoying looking after Molly, until the day he suffered a major heart attack. Sadly he passed away three weeks later in hospital, but on his death-bed, Linda made the promise to look after Molly and keep her safe.
In the eight months since then, Molly has helped give Linda a reason to get up each day and remain positive.
What We've Done
Since Molly first disappeared, we've done the following:
- Extensively cut back and searched the garden and surroundings.
- Called in help from several local dog-searching charities
- Flown drones with thermal cameras over the surrounding area
- Spoken to locals or put fliers through all doors in the surrounding area
- Rigorously searched woods, hedgerows, badgers sets etc as best we could in the surrounding area
- Searched fields as far as we could, but they've only started being harvested in the last couple of weeks, making access difficult
- Gone out at night with thermal cameras in the surrounding area.
After all this effort and over four weeks searching, there hasn't been a single confirmed sighting.
What Might Have Happened
With absolutely no sightings or evidence, it's impossible to know where Molly is, so anything is speculation.
She could have:
- chased a small animal down a hole and got herself trapped,
- run through a hedge or bush and got stuck,
- been picked up and taken home by someone thinking they've found an abandoned dog,
- been picked up by opportunistic dog thieves,
- is further afield than we first believed, in a place of relative safety with enough food and water nearby, but still far enough away from people to avoid being seen
Current Plans
At the moment, we have people working on the stolen dog possibility with social media and other campaigns.
If Molly has got stuck somewhere, it's likely already too late, and we may never know the truth.
Until there's a sighting or some other evidence, we're operating on the assumption that her natural confidence and breed give her a good chance of surviving hiding in the country-side away from people. If she's gone feral in order to survive, she may be actively avoiding people, but as more and more fields get harvested, she should have fewer places to hide and be easier to spot.
We are:
- Putting updated leaflets through all doors within a radius of 10 miles that we can
- Regularly driving out some direction, and walking back home to leave a scent trail, should Molly move and stumble across it
- Attempting to extend the range of the smell of home by one or two nights a week sleeping in a tent or the car down-wind of home.
- Relying on the kindness of our local community to keep an eye open and report any possible sightings.
How can I help?
It's impossible to place limits on how far Molly could have travelled under her own steam. She could be close by, she could be ten, fifteen or even more miles away.
We ask that walkers and dog-walkers in the areas surrounding Great Wytheford keep an eye open for any loose red-coloured medium-sized dogs that are moving around. Perhaps vary your routes and go off the beaten path where you safely can.
If there are any woods near you and you can get permission from the landowner if needed, going and having a look around would be massively appreciated.
If you're a cyclist, you could take a pair of binoculars if you have them, pausing at field entrances to scan the other sides.
If anyone sees anything (and getting a video on your mobile would be a great help) please contact us with the details below.
Last Known Location (within a couple of hundred metres)
Get in touch
Telephone: 07812582249
E-mail: info@findmolly.co.uk
©Copyright Mike Johnson 2024. All rights reserved.
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