For those of you in the group that are not on Facebook this is Lexi’s story.
On Saturday we were doing a Manchester breed stand at the family pet show at EventCity Trafford park Manchester. Unfortunately when I had nipped to the loo and to get something to eat she escaped from the stand and came looking for me.
With so many people trying to catch she took fright and she escaped the centre into the car park after a guard stood in front of the automatic doors.
Nigel Keates from the stand was in hot pursuit and after 2 laps around the centre she crossed a dual carriageway into another network of car parks. She was last seen running up the middle of a dual carriage way packed with speeding cars.
By this time me, Nigel Portia Elizabeth and Sonia Owczarek were in hot pursuit. However despite sightings from public no trace. We split up and went in different directions me with Portia and Sonia and Nigel.
One driver saw Lexi on the road running in the opposite direction and turned around to try and catch her. He saw Sonia with her orange bandana on the verge and stopped and asked her if she had lost a dog with an orange bandana. When she said yes he said jump in and he took her to where he had last seen her and they drove around searching the area.
However she had disappeared. By this time Harvey’s army who were at the show heard of our plight and they joined the search. I joined one car whilst Sonia and Nigel stayed on foot searching the verges. Nigel’s pedometer said that at the end of the day they had ran and walked 9.6 miles.
By this time another Manchester owner Lesley Olbinson who lives in Manchester had picked up mine and Nigel’s voice message seeking her help in the search.
We also had dog search involved, the police, dog warden, BBC radio, security guards, ambulance drivers, taxi drivers, dog walkers all in the search.
She had disappeared at @ 13,00 and we reconvened at event city @ 17.30. By this time I feared the worst and rang John to tell him the bad news. I had lost Lexi. At this point I lost the plot and was in the process of starting the search again in my car. Rightly I was refrained from driving.
And then a miracle happened. My phone rang and it was Lesley. She had found her over 5 miles away. The map shows the distance she had ran. From point A to the orange man in top right corner. Lesley had been searching in her car in a radius from the last sighting. 1.5 hours into her search she was in the area where she lived. A friend coming out a shop told her she had seen her dog going down the next residential road.
Lesley knew this must be Lexi and was in hot pursuit. And there she was corned at the bottom of the road by a young boy on a bike who was trying to catch her after seeing her knocked by a car going at a slow speed.
Lesley jumped out of car and with some gentle talking and treats managed to coax her to come to her and get a lead on her. Nothing more than a miracle.
She rushed her too me and then rushed us to the vets. I left Nigel, Sonia, and Portia behind sorting out my car which was all left open. Unfortunately in my haste I had thrown the keys into the boot of Lesley’s car when I lifted Lexi out of the car.
This is another story to tell. However you must all want to know how Lexi is.
Her paws are in a mess and her nails are down to the quick. So she is finding it hard to walk. She has cuts and scrapes all over her and especially on her knees and elbows. We think the car hit her on left side of head where she has chunks of fur missing. Her left ear seems to be bothering her so I will get that checked today.
She did tell off the paperboy this morning and she is eating and drinking. More worried about her reaction to roads and traffic when she is fit to go out. Will just have to go back to basics
By some miracle called Lesley, Lexi is with us today. I cannot thank her enough. Also my thanks to Sonia my rock, Nigel and Portia. Also to Craig Laycock and Lee who looked after the other dogs and the breed stand all afternoon. Plus Harvey’s Army.
I will keep you up to date with her progress. I am one lucky person to have such good friends around me . I have managed to write this today without too many tears. I am slowly getting over the shock. I hurt from top to toe and my back is in spasm but that is nothing compared to Lexi’s ordeal.
Can also ask you to support Harvey’s Army’s e petition. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62490