Misty, a Tibetan spaniel

Missing dog found with new 'bling' collar
Saturday, October 10, 2009

A DOTED-ON missing dog was miraculously found wandering on a motorway 40 miles from home – wearing a new 'bling' collar.

Tibetan spaniel Misty was reunited with her overjoyed owner Ethel Rodwell after a two-week voyage into the unknown.

The 87-year-old from Cirencester believes her cunning canine could have escaped the clutches of a dog-napper taking her to London.

She is still piecing together the puzzle of her precious pet, and says if it wasn't for website Dog Lost, her treasured pet might never have been found.

Nine-year-old Misty disappeared at midday on September 23, complete with her original collar and disc with owner's details.

Mrs Rodwell said: "I'd had her at three-months-old and she's my friend and companion. We talk to each other.

"I'd carelessly left the door ajar, for the first time in nine years and didn't realise, and she'd gone for an hour.

"Friends and neighbours searched for her. Then I happened to talk to a local mother with a poster in her hand. Her six or seven-year-old daughter suggested using the internet.

"My niece Sarah Ford put Misty online, and out of it came this wonderful organisation Dog Lost, which picked it up."

Susan Herbert, Cotswolds coordinator at Dog Lost – which operates a database of information on stolen or lost dogs – put up posters around Cirencester and supported the frantic pensioner.

Fate then intervened when Susan Rand, who lives near Oxford, was travelling back from London on the M4 and saw police 'slow' signs warning of a stray animal.

She saw a dog on a bank and within minutes police caught it with a noose. It was Misty.

Mrs Rand took her home then checked Dog Lost and saw Misty at the top of the list.

"Mrs Rand got in touch with the local coordinator, who phoned me in great excitement at midnight," said Mrs Rodwell.

Mrs Rand returned Misty in person, with her own Labrador, and Susan Herbert.

"Misty walked in as if she'd never been away," said Mrs Rodwell.

"But she was wearing a very high-class 'bling' diamante-studded collar, with a diamante bone hanging from the buckle.

"This tells me the dog was well looked-after and valued. She wasn't just abandoned on the motorway, but probably escaped."

Source: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/cirencester/news/Missing-dog-new-bling-collar/article-1409304-detail/article.html