By Liam Sloan
Friday 28th January 2011
FOR 18 months, Chris and Julia Moran had no idea whether their poodle Archie was alive or dead.
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| Julia Moran with Archie the toy poodle |
The toy poodle vanished without trace from a garden in Heybridge, Essex, in July 2009, and had not been seen since... until he turned up two days ago in Oxford.
Yesterday, 549 days on, the couple were reunited with tiny Archie, more than 100 miles from where he went missing.
The 2ft-long dog was found yelping, lost and alone in Abingdon Road by a member of the public on Wednesday.
When Oxford City Council dog warden Ken Williams discovered the dog was microchipped, he traced the owners back to Corringham, Essex, and broke the news on Mrs Moran’s 47th birthday.
Mrs Moran, a pre-school teacher, said: “It is the best birthday present I could ever have.
“When we heard the news, we thought we were in a dream, because when we lost him it was like being in limbo.”
Archie went missing from Mrs Moran’s sister’s garden in Heybridge, near Maldon, on July 27, 2009, while the family were on holiday in France.
When she phoned with the news, the family cut their trip short and sped back to Essex to look for the dog.
Mr Moran, 52, said: “We searched for days and days, and came back every weekend for several weeks.
“We put up posters all over Maldon and in the supermarkets, and there was a newspaper article in the local paper.
“We put him on Dog Lost and the Missing Pets register.
“You name it, we did it.
“We went to every effort possible but he had disappeared off the face of the earth.
“We either thought he had been knocked down and he was in a ditch somewhere, or he had gone off with somebody. It was like losing a member of our family.”
Daughter Kelly, 17, said: “When Dad told me Archie had turned up, I thought he was joking. I can’t believe it.”
Archie’s missing 18 months remain a mystery.
He was dirty but not malnourished or injured when he was found, suggesting he had been looked after.
Mr Moran said: “We don’t know how he ended up here. Maybe he came up to Oxford to study for a degree.”
Mr Williams added: “Something like this makes the whole job worthwhile.”
Source: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/8818230.Poodle_reunited_with_owner_after_epic_journey/
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