HEARTWARMING footage shows the sweet moment a missing dog leapt into the arms of its owner after a desperate search lasting a week.
Molly, a two-year-old cockapoo escaped while her owner John Stringer was on holiday in Turkey.
SWNSMolly jumped into her owner’s arms after a week in the wild[/caption]
SWNSMolly was captured on camera racing through the grass to her owner[/caption]
SWNSThe whole family were relieved when their dog made it home[/caption]
SWNSEmily with Molly after she was found by the team of volunteers[/caption]
His mum called him at 2am local time to say Molly was missing on Monday August 25, sparking a frantic search.
Now, a drone has captured the sweet moment she was reunited with John.
Emotional footage shows Molly racing along the grass before jumping into his arms relieved to be home.
John said: “It was such a relief when she ran over and was all cuddles.
“That week was a rollercoaster, everything was in a knife-edge, I was expecting bad news at any moment, but for it to end that way was just immense.
“It was one heck of a week with many sleepless nights.
“I can’t thank Vivienne and Andy enough as well as the locals who were so kind and helpful with bringing Molly home.”
The ordeal began when Molly ran away from John’s elderly mother’s cottage in Pateley Bridge, North Yorks.
John recalled how his mum had “let her out for an evening wee until Molly decided she wanted to go home jumped over her garden wall which is about four and a half feet tall.”
At only 12 inches tall and about a foot long, John was surprised to hear his pup managed the jump.
“She had then run down the road looking for my car and when my scent disappeared, she had gotten herself lost running in the wrong direction trying to find it again,” he added.
As soon as the call came through the 50-year-old cut his family holiday short and booked the next flight back to Leeds to search.
John’s sister Carolyn Oakley, 46, posted on Facebook gaining the attention of Vivienne Hanson, 60, and the volunteer dog rescue charity, Busters Animal SOS Team.
Messages flooded in with offers to help search and a team assembled.
The dad of two said he was sick with worry about Molly being lost on the vast Yorkshire Dales.
“All night I was laying in bed waiting for follow up messages from my sister about what was happening.”
Help came in the form of The Lost Dog Trapping Team, ran by Mandy Butler, who got in touch with Carolyn to recommend Vivienne and her team based in Bradford.
A search quickly began using high tech cameras and drones to track Molly and more old school methods such as sausages, chicken and gravy as bait.
On hearing the call to action one volunteer, Andrew Gilpin, 67, travelled over an hour to set up camera’s outside John’s mum’s cottage.
The team hit a wall on Thursday until a gamesman said he saw Molly run in front of his car around six miles from home.
“Vivienne told me that Molly had entered flight mode so she was just focused on surviving finding food, water, shelter, rather than being found,” said John.
‘SICK WITH WORRY’
On Saturday, Vivienne headed to the sighting and found paw prints that matched Molly.
She set up a camera and of course some bait in the form of sausages, bacon, chicken, liver and gravy.
The trap designed to capture Molly whilst she ate didn’t work and once again hope was lost as the cockapoo disappeared again.
On Monday September 8, Molly was spotted rolling on her back in a farmer’s field only a mile and a half from the cottage she had escaped from.
The rescue team headed straight to the field with John’s daughter Emily, 16 to bring their pup home.
John then performed a rescue exercise under the instruction of Vivienne in order to reassure Molly that she was in no danger.
“Andy had already got his drone in the air just in case she decided to do a runner so we would be able to follow her.
“He had put on his old clothes so that his smell would be picked up by her in the wind.
“Luckily the wind was blowing in her direction – they also had bacon butties which helped.”
‘HUGE RELIEF’
After a long 20 minutes where Molly slowly made her way towards her owners she picked up a strong scent and bolted into Emily’s arms.
“In that moment it was just a huge relief.
“I am very pleased to have her back. The whole week felt like a big game of cat and mouse, I was so happy it was over.
“I can’t thank Busters and Vivienne enough for all their help.”
After a trip to the vet and a good clean in the shower Molly began to settle back into her home.
“Molly was a bit shaken for the first couple of days but now back where she belongs on the sofa laying on her back watching TV.”
If you ever come across a lost dog, Vivienne advises you note the location and pass it on to the owner.
She warns against trying to get a hold of the dog as it might frighten them and cause an accident.
“The best thing you can do is take down its location and report it to the owner then steps can be taken to capture it.”
SWNSJohn Stringer with Molly his beloved cockapoo[/caption]
SWNSMolly was tracked through cameras while the team rushed to find her[/caption]
SWNSMolly enjoying some TLC after being found[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
