For a pet lover, losing his pets is a heartbreaking point, and they try to do everything they can to keep their beloved animals safe and near them. A man broke down in tears after his missing dog was rescued from a fox hole, following days of ‘hell’ as he searched for her.
Alan Whitton, 49, from Woodford Green, Redbridge, welcomed Mitzi the Jack Russell into his home last year. Despite being a life coach by trade, he’ll coyly admit that he prefers the company of animals. Last year, Alan had to ᴜɴᴅᴇʀɢᴏ the suffering of having a pet p.ass. When Tinker had to be put down, Alan was distraught. His only refuge during this time was his other dog, a Jack Rusell mix dubbed “Mitzi.” Having both l.o.st a friend, they spent a lot of time together trying to console each other.
Through this bonding, the pair became inseparable. “I call her my business partner because she is always with me, by my side,” Alan said.
But ᴛʀᴀɢᴇᴅʏ sᴛʀɪᴋes again when 1-year-old Mitzi was walking down a park with Alan when she started to run after another dog was chasing her. The poor man looked out for his beloved dog all day but had no luck, it seemed like the dog got disappeared without a trace.
He eventually left the area at around 6:30 pm, before returning again an hour later with his wife and two children.
“I didn’t want to go home without her,” Alan said. “But it was late we had to.”
As this was the first time Mitzi had ever gone missing, Alan couldn’t help but think the worst. The dog-lover said he was unable to sleep all night as he ‘thought she was going to ᴅ.ɪ.ᴇ’ in the cold weather. ‘It was ʜ.ᴇ.ʟʟɪsʜ,’ he explained. Alan was forced to go home and spend another sleepless night worrying about Mitzi, and the next morning was beginning to come to terms with the fact he might never find his beloved pet. The search continued but with no luck, so he started plastering the area with missing posters, hoping the community will help him find his pet.
The heartbroken dog owner said: “ I broke down crying to anyone I spoke to about Mitzi, I was missing her so much.”
When all hopes seem lost Alan received a call from a dog walker informing him that her dog keeps sniffing around a fox hole.
Once Alan got to the area, he immediately knew he had found Mitzi. He heard the bark of his best friend. But he didn’t know exactly where she was, or if she was hurt. He crawled on his knees until he found the right passage.
Strangers came to help the man to dig up his dog: “I needed shovels, the lady who called me kindly gave me one and I started digging,” Alan said. “The people started turning up to help, it was amazing.”
Strangers started gathering around and helping dig out the ground. They got shovels and they got to work. It was a difficult process, but they finally managed to pull the un-injured dog out of the ground.
Alan cried for 15 minutes before taking Mitzi to the vet for a once over; luckily, she hadn’t been injured and just needed to have a few ticks removed.
In a bid to keep the Jack Russell safe, the dog owner said he’s looking into buying a GPS collar for her so he can track her at all times while out on walks.
The 49-year-old said he feels ‘so grateful and overwhelmed by the compassion showed by those who helped him find Mitzi, adding: ‘The prospect of not having Mitzi here at Christmas, I couldn’t even contemplate.’