Rusty's Story: Is he still out there?

RUSTY is a beautiful Jack Russell terrier who was last seen running on marshland near his home in Poole. It was 14th December, 2024, four months ago as we write.

Like most dog owners. when this happens, his family felt bewildered and overwhelmed. They posted on Facebook community groups, got people keeping an eye out for Rusty, and tried to work out WHO to listen to for the best advice.

All good things to do.

There were sightings of Rusty in those first few days, in plausible areas, but a pattern of behaviour didn’t develop. A thermal drone was sent up too; a good tool in calm weather, but sadly Rusty didn’t appear.

Eyes open on the ground, and in the sky; all good things.  Maybe the more active searching, the posting of sighting locations and calling his name were counter-productive. It’s unclear in this case, though it was worrying to see the numbers of people out walking the area at times.

However, the family now says that it took a good week to realise they were using poor advice from one particular source. That source was just the loudest and most persistent contact on the first day. Expert help and advice was there, but it had been drowned out by glory-hunting charlatans.

“We were very unlucky with 'X' being the first to offer help as 'X' was definitely the wrong person to accept help from in every way possible.

The groups on Facebook should be vetted & all of them to operate in the same way as it’s so confusing for the lost dog owners in their blind panic & knowing what to do & who’s the most reliable ‘expert ‘in that situation.”

Once the facts became clear, that initial person was stood down, and the search continued as it should, with advice from DogLost and other competent helpers. They had been there from the start, but their calm and expert advice was being brushed aside by this more aggressive poster, who did not want anyone else on the scene. We call such people 'glory-hunters', but there is NO space in canine search and rescue for egos.

The bottom line is that Rusty has still not been found. His face is still in everyone’s minds and on their Facebook feeds. He is not forgotten and never will. Dogs have reappeared after much longer.

Rusty’s owner says:

“The biggest problem is the not knowing what to do when it happens & you guys are hopefully going to be educating all dog owners by making them aware”.

Poor Rusty might still be missing even if the family had known where to turn from the start, but the stress they suffered, and the horror they feel daily of not knowing where he is, were made much worse because they did not know more about what to do before it happened. We want nobody to suffer this limbo. We want to change all that.

KEEP THEM SAFE, BRING THEM HOME, EVERY SINGLE TIME