Doris' Story

A LITTLE DOG, A BIG IDEA

“I want every dog owner to know what to do when their dog goes missing.”

The heartfelt words came from Julia, whose sweet little dog, Doris, was found on the railway lines by a popular dog walking area after a massive month-long search. I was with her, as was Doris’ groomer, Dannie. We had lived every moment of the search with Doris’ family and were all broken by the news.

The previous winter I had lived through my own long, tragic search for our Milo, who was only reunited with us when his body was found by a dog walker. So, when Doris went missing so close to home, I had to try and help.

That First Night

Doris, a much-loved Sealyham Terrier cross, wandered away from her family one evening at Whitecliff, a place she knew well. Her owners only took their eyes off her for a second or two, but it was enough for her to disappear.

The family searched and called out until 3am. There was no sign of Doris. A huge, coordinated dog search began, and a team of fabulous volunteers put up posters and flyers, SAR experts searched for her, secret cameras were deployed and the local paper featured her plight.

After 4 weeks, a kind railway engineer found a small, furry white body by the tracks at Whitecliff. He checked Facebook and quickly realised this was Doris. He phoned her heartbroken family. 

A Tragic Error

The most tragic part? CTTV from a house where the family had parked, showed Doris returning to the car an hour after she went missing. Nobody was there. Later, she must have found a hole in the railway fence, where she became a victim of the electric rail. 

Once they had brought Doris home and given her a dignified send off, Julia got in touch and again said those words;

“I want every dog owner to know what to do when their dog goes missing.”

A Movement is Born

We have wonderful, volunteer dog search and rescue teams in this country. Even so, there are too many missing dogs in the first place. Knowing the terrible pain of losing a dog this way, I had wanted to help, and suddenly, here was the ‘how’.

When your dog goes missing, you report it, probably on social media, and you get advice. Too much of it. Too much NOISE. How to tell which is the right advice? While you’re deciding, time is being lost. That is what happened to Doris’ family.

If EVERY dog owner already HAD the tools to try and avoid tragedy, and if their dog did still disappear, the KNOWLEDGE to get an effective search underway and DONE, as quickly as possible, then far fewer families need know the terrible pain that we had felt.

If not for that kind engineer, Doris might never have been found. The story had a tragic end, but how much worse NEVER to know what became of her? Sadly, this what some people have to endure. 

Doris' Legacy

The idea took hold in a big way. We have so many ideas, and the Safe Paws Network is a reality, but a very new one. It needs to grow. Clearly social media is a crucial tool, and for that we need every person that sees our pages and posts to share them. We want to provide every dog owner, trainer, vet, pet shop, rescue organisation to be aware, and have simple, effective materials to hand out. We want to have message boards at key places where there are hidden dangers, such as railway lines or hidden, deep water, so that people can keep a closer eye, or a lead, on their dogs in those places. We want to engage with bodies such as Network Rail and the Highways Agency so that, while acknowledging that our dogs are our responsibility, searches can happen quickly when requested. One thing worse than losing your dog, is losing your dog and not knowing what happened to them.

We will grow, we will help dogs stay safer, and we will pass our formula and materials to other towns and groups that wish to join the Safe Paws movement.

Keep them Safe

Bring them Home

Every Single Time.