Molly had a very troublesome past, which led us to being more selective with the type of home we were looking for her, and had therefore meant that she had been in the care of Little Valley for longer than we would have liked. The day she found her new home was such a joyful time for all of us, and we bid her a fond farewell when she departed for her new life.
Heartbreakingly, after one very unstable first night, we heard the news that she slipped her harness when out on the land with her owner after becoming worried. She was running scared in the vast farmland and roads that surrounded the area. After hearing this news, we sprung into action and went out to join the search, and after hours of hunting, we came to no avail, and we had to come away when darkness fell – with no Molly.
As you can imagine, we all love Molly so very much so this was so hard for us all.
The next day we went back, but this time with a bigger search team and thousands of ‘Help us Find Molly’ posters. We had to get her face out everywhere! We postered all around the local villages, handed them out to every member of public we saw. Every farm gate or lamppost seemed to have Molly plastered on it! We coupled this with a post on social media, and following up any potential sightings that came through to us. Her social media post was reached by over 100,000 people!
We sadly had another unsuccessful second day. But one positive was that we found another lost dog on our journey! And we were able to reunite them with their happy owner! Another night came, and we had to come away empty handed. But with some of the staff still continuing the search even in the dark.
We reach day three, and we’re back in the area with a large team. We had a sighting taken on a camera at a local garden centre, so we headed there first to see if this could be a potential feeding station area, and an area that we might be able to set a trap, should we need to. Once dogs become stray they become very scared. And even with all the love and will in the world, they may not even return to their owners.
We split the teams, one postering, one searching more farmland, and the other searching the area around the garden centre. We start to walk down a lane, surrounded by beautiful trees and a very friendly robin (we saw him as a sign that he knew where our Molly was, so we kept hopeful). The three of us staff members start to have a chat while walking, keeping a constant look out at every opportunity. Up ahead came an open barn containing a tractor and some machinery … And all of a sudden, Molly’s scared little face poking out from behind the tractor!
The three of us drop to our knees, knowing now was the time to keep calm and gently and lovingly call her name in the hope she recognises us. SHE CAME RUNNING INTO OUR ARMS!
We had our Molly! We couldn’t believe it! There were many cries of joy from us all, including Molly! After days of hopeless searching, and continuous wishing, we had our girl back in our arms!
Molly came back to the shelter, she had lost 2kg in weight, but otherwise surprisingly in good shape. And she is still doing very well. We continue to work with Molly to get her ready to be able to enjoy a new home.
What an adventure!
Thank you to everyone who shared our post, put up posters and gave vital information about recent sightings.
This information saved our Molly and we couldn’t have found her without it.
RSPCA Little Valley Animal Shelter
Black Hat Lane
Bakers Hill
Exeter, EX2 9TA
