jstephens@thekmgroup.co.uk

A DOG that went missing whilst being walked in Pegwell has finally returned home... after six years.

Libby was reunited two weeks ago with her overjoyed owner Jean Muslun who’d given up hope of every seeing her again.

“My father was walking her on Mother’s day 2006 near the Ramsgate boating pool when she began playing with another dog. They ran off together and that was the last we saw of Libby until now.”

The entire family turned out to look for the three-year-old bull mastiff cross, scouring the area on foot and in cars until well after dark. Then just after 10pm, Mrs Tobin received a phonecall:

“It was a young-sounding male asking whether I’d lost a dog. I said I had and he told me he’d spotted one in Ellington park and got my number from its collar.

"He said she’d run off into the road and he needed to know her name so he could call her back. Stupidly I told him but I was so worried for her safety. He never phoned back”

In the meantime Jean flooded the area with flyers and posters, and contacted police, the Thanet Extra as well as vets and rescue centres, offering a substantial reward but all to no avail. As well as the distress to the family, Libby’s loss was also a source of discomfort to her playmate, Jean’s other dog Brody.

“He was pining for her, as we all were. When we took him for walks he’d just mope, it was so sad but as the months wore on we all just gave up hope.

“I would often wonder about Libby, whether she was OK and whether someone was taking good care of her.”

Just as a phone call from an unknown person signalled Libby’s disappearance, another heralded her return. Sadly it came just days after Jean was forced to have Brody put down:

“I was driving and had a missed call from an unknown number. When I called it they explained they were from somewhere called the Animal Clinic and then told me they had my dog.

“I got really angry. I was with Brody when he passed away and had arranged for him to be cremated. But you hear things about animals being shipped about.

“So when they told me they'd got Libby I couldn’t believe it - I thought someone was playing a cruel joke on me”

According to the clinic in South East London a woman had brought Libby in after her partner died. She’d been forced to move and was unable to take Libby with her.

Staff scanned the dog, discovered her microchip, realised she had been reported lost or stolen and tracked down Jean’s number. Within two hours of taking the call from the clinic, Jean was reunited with her beloved pet.

“I jumped straight in the car and went to Gillingham to meet the lady who’d had Libby. She was so embarrassed about what had happened she offered to drive down to Kent and meet me halfway.

“She told me she felt so guilty and kept apologising. Apparently she’d only been with her partner two years but after he died the neighbour told her he’d always suspected the dog had been stolen but didn’t want to say anything.

“I was over the moon - it was like Christmas, Mother’s Day and birthdays all rolled into one.

“At first she was unsure who I was but then I called her by her pet name and she knew immediately and started wagging her tail.”

Libby is now safely at home and in good health although slightly underweight.

Jean is now urging all pet owners to get their animals microchipped and for vets and sanctuaries to scan new arrivals.

She also suggests anyone losing their dog to contact www.doglost.co.uk.

Working closely with Thanet Police, the vounteers at the site flood the area with flyers and members keep an eye for lost animals whilst walking their own dogs.