After five long months of work by DogLost to help Monty the English Bull Terrier get reunited with his owner, a tip-off came through to our helpline.

Monty who disappeared from Buckhurst Hill whilst out on a walk with his owner, Martin was recovered some 30 miles away by Essex Police working in partnership with DogLost.

Monty is a very special dog as he was able to detect cancer in his owner who was subsequently diagnosed with throat cancer.

Said Shelagh Savage, DogLost Area Volunteer, East London: “Monty wasn’t in great shape when he got back and he needed to go to the vet who thought he’d probably been chained up for the entire time he was missing.”

Monty and a thrilled Martin are pictured here with the two officers who attended and recovered Monty.

Photo courtesy Essex Police.

DogLost is returning to the Pet Show at Stoneleigh this weekend as charity partners.

With the increase in dog theft, DogLost will be advising owners on how to keep their dogs safe from the fear of theft. We will also be raising the awareness of microchipping and registering with the site as well as ways of combating theft.

You will find us in on stand F112 by the Kennels Arena, where volunteers from the Central region will be on hand to offer advice,

Other attractions at the show for dog owners include a fun dog show, agility, dog display teams, special guests, the West Midlands police dog team. There will be plenty of stands featuring the latest products, top dog breeds plus much more for other pets.

The Pet Show 2015 returns to Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire on 1st – 2nd August 2015 and is open 1100-1700 on both days.

Advance tickets are available online.

Our supporters will bake cakes, hold raffles and parade around in all manner of costumes just to make sure we can keep our service running.

But one organisation went a step further and did all this for an entire year. Border Collie owners at the Ladies Kennel Association have set themselves the task of raising funds for a cancer charity and a dog charity each year.

2014 was DogLost’s lucky year and we have just received £1,200 – enough to keep us running for four weeks,

The group – lead by Pete Simmons – held raffle after raffle at championship shows and auctioned everything from Pete’s own pickled onions to a beautiful hand-made encrusted ring number arm band.

Much of the Border Collie fundraising was organised by Laura Wiltshire, who told DogLost “Pete even dressed up for the day at the LKA championship show as a snowman, and we had lovely jewellery donated by Tiny Treasures.”
“
“Raising the money wouldn’t have be possible without the generousity of the dog show community, “ continued Laura, “but I’d particularly like to thank Phil Surridge, Joanna Lake and Dog World for their support.”

“DogLost is an amazing organisation who do so much to help owners when pets go missing, so by supporting them it’s our way of giving back and saying thank you”

Photo shows a limited edition print donated by artist John Silver

DogLost provides a free helpline for owners who have lost their dogs. It operates seven days a week between 0700-2100.

However, under new Ofcom rules we must inform you of how much telecom providers charge you for dialling the service.

Our 0844 number is provided by BT and they will charge you 5p a minute for dialing it. Your own telecoms provider will also charge an access fee and that varies according to who you use and whether you are on a landline or mobile.

None of this money comes to DogLost. We have to pay for an easy to remember non-geographic number so that DogLost’s helpline is accessible.

Under the new regulations we must also provide an alternative landline number for people to use. That number is 01633 668364.

Essential work will be taking place on the DogLost servers tonight.

Between 2100 tonight Thursday 9 April and 0300 on Friday 10 April, our hosting company will be carrying out vital security software updates.

We have been informed that this should not last more than six hours.

DogLost apologises for any interruption of service, but it is beyond our control.

Whilst we’re busy with our guests and opening our Easter eggs, it’s easy for dogs to slip out unnoticed. Sometimes people don’t notice for a while and fido is long gone. So here’s a little advice to keep your dog safe this Easter:

• Check that gates and fences are secure and that your dog can’t dig his way out: A bored dog will always think the grass is greener.
• Keep exterior doors shut and locked at all times
• Always know where your dog is – however busy you are – and ideally assign one person to look after them
• Don’t leave your dog in the garden for long periods, tied up outside a shop or in the car whilst you visit friends and relatives. Thieves work all year round !

And don’t forget that chocolate is toxic to our four-legged friends, so absolutely no chocolate eggs or bunnies for them !

Easter is a busy time of year for DogLost with many dogs going missing. But we will be manning our free helpline all over the four-day holiday with our normal opening hours of 0700-2100.

DogLost will again be supporting Pet Theft Awareness Week starting tomorrow (14 March)

When Newdigate lad, Tom, found a little Jack Russell running down a Surrey road, the last thing he thought was that the dog had gone missing 35 miles away, six months ago.

When he couldn’t find an owner he took the little dog to Newdigate vets to be scanned. Client Services Administrator, Hannah, found out of date details on a normal scanner and turned to Halo to find the dog was registered with DogLost.

So surprised was owner Hector, and his daughter, Catalina when they got the call from DogLost that they drove to Surrey straight away. Said Hannah: “It was a really emotional reunion, you can’t imagine what it was like for them to see little Lola after so long.”

Despite searching extensively in Neasden, north west London, where Lola had gone missing last September – with DogLost’s help – they had given up on ever seeing her again and had bought another dog.

Lola was warm, fed and wearing a red collar, so had clearly spent her time in a home and not as a stray.

The photo shows Hector and Catalina being reunited with Lola

Following raids on several travellers’ sites in Milton Keynes where Thames Valley Police have seized dogs, DogLost has issued the following statement:

“There is nothing at present to suggest anything other than dogs in poor condition were on the site, but we are liaising with Thames Valley Police to confirm the exact position. If there were stolen dogs there, we will let you know when the information becomes available to us.

Please do not inundate the police, RSPCA or Doglost with calls or emails relating to this as we have no further information at present.”