NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A dog lover who thought she had buried her springer spaniel in her garden has been reunited with her pet after it turned up alive and well.
Codie Hutton, 26, was left heartbroken when nine-year-old Maisie was spooked by a firework on Bonfire Night and ran away.
She hunted in vain for her pet all night long on November 5 with the help of volunteers from a local missing dog group.
Her worse fears appeared confirmed when the flattened remains of an animal were found two days later on the A12 near where Maisie disappeared in Woodbridge, Suffolk.
Codie tearfully visited the spot to scoop up the squashed body, and was sure it was Maisie due to markings on its tail and legs.
A vet who scanned the remains on Monday last week was unable to find Masie’s identification microchip, and suggested that it may a fox due to the shape of its paws.
But Codie was still convinced it was Maisie, believing the microchip might have been dislodged from her pet’s body in a collision with a car or a lorry.
After taking the body home, she wrapped it in Masie’s bedding and buried it, along with a picture of her and son Taylen, three, in their garden in Crowfield, near Ipswich, Suffolk.
She said: ‘We were convinced from the tail and markings on the legs that it was her.
‘A microchip couldn’t be found, but we accepted and made peace with her death. I told Taylen she was a star in doggy heaven now. It was devastating.’
But Codie was left amazed when sightings of Maisie started to trickle in two days later.
Maisie was finally cornered the next day when she wandered into the garden of an elderly couple who shut their gate to stop her from running away again.
They notified Codie, who rushed to the house to be reunited with her cold and hungry pet after her father confirmed it was Maisie.
She found her beloved dog ‘wiggling and whimpering’ in excitement, and seemingly desperate to get home.
Codie said: ‘I thought she was gone. I thought I was never going to see her again. I still couldn’t believe it was my Maisie.’
Her son Taylen was reunited with his pet soon afterwards and immediately tried to put his Captain America onesie on her to warm her up.
Maisie appeared relatively unharmed after her ordeal although she had a mild eye infection.
She has been enjoying all the comforts of home, including a new ball to play with, plenty of tasty chews and a pooch pamper session gifted by local business Fluff and Buff.
Codie is now fundraising for Finding Ipswich Dogs Organisation (F.I.D.O), the organisation that helped to search for her pet.
Sam French, who runs the voluntary group, which has found 20 dogs this year, said: ‘It is great that Maisie has been returned home.
‘It was awful for Codie when the body of the animal was found. She thought it was Maisie because of the earlier reports of her being clipped by a car.
‘The animal was in a bit of a state and there were some marks on it which she thought were similar to Maisie’s fur.
‘Obviously it was a very emotional time for her, and a mistake was made. She was clearly upset and thought the worst.
‘When the reports started coming in from Wickham Market, her hopes rose again and she realised she might have made a mistake.
‘It now seems likely that it was a fox after all. Whatever it was, she gave it an epic funeral in her garden.’
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