A COMMUNITY campaign to reunite an escaped dog – missing for more than a week – with its owner has been taking place in St Ouen.
Despite several sightings of Seth, the beloved pet has been at large since scrambling over a garden wall at the start of the month.
Islanders are being asked to keep an eye out for Seth, but not to approach him should they see him and instead report his whereabouts.
There have been a series of daily updates on his whereabouts posted on Facebook by Gail Bennie, who has been helping people find their lost dogs, ever since she experienced the kindness of others doing the same for her when she had dogs that “regularly escaped”.
She said that she has been helping the owner, who would prefer to not be named but that it’s proved “quite a challenge catching this guy”.
She explained that “despite having little legs”, Seth managed to make his grand escape by scrambling over a four-and-a-half foot wall at the start of the month – much to his owner’s surprise.
Ms Bennie and the team helping the search for Seth have been monitoring his whereabouts from public sightings and camera footage.
While the pup has been mainly exploring the St Ouen area, he has made occasioal excursions into St Mary, St Peter and St Brelade.
“Sightings over the last few days outside of his base in the Grantez area have included along the main road past St Ouen’s Manor, around St Mary’s pub, towards Greve de L’Ecq woods,” said Ms Bennie.
They’ve also included “down towards Les Mielles de Morville, the bottom of Mont a La Brune, across from Rte du Manoir towards Catherine Best Windmill, Grande Rte des Augerez running towards St Peter’s Village”, she added.
But as the days go on, his owners – who want him home “as soon as possible” – are growing more “anxious and upset” and concerned for his wellbeing.
However, while Islanders are being asked to keep a lookout for Seth, they are being advised not to approach him.
It’s a lot more complicated than some people may realise, capturing a small dog. The owners are trying to be “patient” said Ms Bennie, as they now understand calling and chasing him won’t work as it only makes him “go further away”.
Instead, they are trying to build his trust by not scaring him away and leaving food on the driveway where they have cameras set up to track his movements in the hope that he keeps coming back.
Seth has made a homebase in the neighbours garden at Grantez, but without an enclosed space to keep him penned in, Ms Bennie and Seth’s owners have been unable to capture him and bring him home.
They have been able to check on his wellbeing through the trail cameras, and Ms Bennie said that he “looks well but appears to be a little tired at times”, adding that fortunately he “seems to recover well” after resting.
Ms Bennie said they are now “working on a capture plan” to try and “get this little guy secured”. This includes a trap, two crates rigged up to close him in, an open shed and trail cameras in the driveway to lure him in.
They are also having a capture pen made locally, that shuts automatically, by Rebecca Ransom at the Company of Dogs, and someone from the government has checked for suitable traps and lent them one.
In the meantime, Ms Bennie asked people to “just ignore him and let us know where they have seen him”, as if frightened he could run onto busy roads putting “himself and road users” in danger and may “bite if cornered”.
If you see Seth, please call 07797 712617 or 07797 797357.
