Happy 2010 dear bloggers
After the Watermead episode Ffion started obsessing about the phone call from nearby Hamilton last February, where a man described a black dog with a scar on the housing estate. So on Sunday, 2 weeks ago, we set off, armed with the usual flyers and posters (with the extra sentence mentioning a possible local connection, to get attention).
Tesco Extra doesn't do community noticeboards but the nice lady in Tesco's petrol station said she was "not supposed to", but she'd "put the poster up", with a friendly smile! Don't know how long that one lasted before the boss caught on...
In the Hamilton estate, which is a bit surreal - one of these new builds with quite fancy looking houses and "middle class" vibes emanating from the company car on each drive, we found a Sainsbury's 7 - 11 and put a poster up there. We put a flyer through the new-build primary school too. However, never have I seen such a dog-free zone. I know it was icy but there was only ONE dog walker out in half an hour of kerb crawling. When quizzed, he retreated (Ffion's vivid imagination judging him to have something to hide, but Tim's logical mind refuting this and declaring him a normal person), saying he didn't know anything. Not- "but I'll keep an eye out" etc - hmmmphh. The estate is heavily Southeast Asian (40% of Leicester's population) and they're not doggy people.
So here we are, 2 weeks on, and not a whisper. Nor anything from our scouts in Watermead Park. Today I took the poster down from our window onto the lane, 13 months on. That was a sad moment. Within our village Tori and Guy, and Ali and Esmond are still displaying theirs in their windows, our loyal supporters. I shall mention it next time I see them.
Tim's dad died this week. Tim is cheering himself up with amazing footage from 2 of our nesting boxes. He has infra-red cameras in an owl box, where a kestrel is in residence (!) and a blue tit box, where a little blue tit sits at night plumping up his feathers like one of those crazy puffer fish who can go spherical. Although we'd prefer to see Mrs Barn Owl in her box, we are still hoping for positive pregnancy tests all round.
Anyone got any advice for husbands addicted to their laptop while in bed, viewing 'other birds' ??
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Hi Tim & Ffion,
ReplyDeleteJohn here Jaspers dad, its still bugging me seeing the black lab with the scar across its back in early December, never seen it before and not seen it since but still looking at every black lab.
My thoughts are that I saw it being walked along the path on the canal side of the first lake nearest to the Hope and Anchor, (on a lead which is a little unusual in Watermead) so logically the people in that area wouldn’t be coming from Birstall, or Thurmaston area as they have different entrances, but they are likely to come from Syston or through Syston to get to that part of Watermead, have you tried Vets in that area, one that springs to mind is Mathews in Syston a somewhat eccentric gentleman and very reasonable in price, there is also a large Natural World Pet Store in Syston I think they may accommodate a poster for Sky. So I can’t help thinking that Syston and the surrounding area is worth trying.
In this day and age shouldn’t every pet be scanned automatically every time it walks through a vet’s door?
I am still vigilant and keep on looking; I do hope Sky turns up,
Regards John & Jasper
Hi John
ReplyDeleteI know, I bet you're mulling it over a lot.
You're right that the highest likelihood is the local area. Trouble is, why hasn't the man been back? I think I spread the word to lots of the dog walkers the day I went to Watermead. Like you, they're nice people who really will keep eyes peeled and bother to phone.
We sent information to Borrajo's vets in Systeon and on Uppingham Road and asked them to display it - it had a picture of the scar and the mention of possible local sightings. We haven't had chance to check they actually did with Tim's dad being ill and the winter weather making work so busy, and they didn't respond to the email.
After the funeral's over on Tuesday and we've caught up a bit I think you're right - we should head over to Syston and visit the Matthews surgery, check up on both Borrajo's surgeries (give it more of a personal touch) and put a poster in the Pet Store.
Couldn't agree more about every pet being scanned at the vet's, certainly if it's a 'new patient'. I wish the world was that vigilant.
Thanks for your help.
Hey..I live in Hamilton....near Tesco ..I have 2 dogs who I love and adore....if I see anyone ith a lab I will make an excuse to pet it just to see if it isn't your dog..best of luck Annie xxxx
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