September 19th 2022
We had just arrived at a hotel abroad for a much needed break when we got a phonecall - Eric slipped his lead and ran off.
Both Andrew and I nearly dropped dead on the spot. Before you call me out for exaggerating, let me remind you what kind of dog our Eric is;
Two of the people that are allowed to handle him were out of the country and two were on the other side of the county and not in contact with anyone on the scene. That left one person that could catch him and that’s if he was actually found or even alive after so long on busy roads alone.
As soon as we got the news, Andrew got in touch with the people that had orginally rescued Eric to see if they could help. Eric’s sister lives with one of them and we were hoping her scent would keep him in the area. Meanwhile, I got in touch with local rescue pages, dog-lover groups and vets to make sure the message was spread.
After another 2 hours looking (and quietly sobbing), a person in a neighbouring town called to say she had spotted him in her garden. For once, Eric’s appearance was working for him! Search-Team-Rescue-Eric mobilised and scoured every garden, every bush and every field for the next hour with no sign of him and no new leads.
By some sort of miracle, when one of the rescue team was walking home, he spotted him! Huddled behind a car in someone’s garden, was Eric. A little freaked out but unharmed.
Thankfully Eric’s sister, Dorothy (pictured) was close by so her and her owner raced to get him. A crowd of people parted and a teeny tiny hairless Chinese Crested, with an underbite and a pink onesie broke through to greet her lost brother.
Tears of joy, relief beyond words, hysterical laughing - Andrew and I were convinved he had died a horrible and lonely death while we were hundreds of kilomtres away so it took a while for the emotions to fully leave our bodies.
Once we got over the shock, the gratitude set in. The effort and genuine concern from friends, family and even complete strangers absolutely blew us away. We can never ever repay them for coming to Eric’s rescue like they did.
We probably won’t go on holiday ever again though.