Praise for young pet rescue team

Tiny Chihuahu, Sugar, which belongs to Mark and Laura McGarrigle, of Foyle Crescent in Newbuildings, went missing on Friday, September 14, and despite a week of frantic searching, had not been found.

Despite a poster campaign and using social networking sites, as well as every contact they knew, the couple, together with Mark’s mother, Lorna McGarrigle, were at a loss as to what had become of their beloved pet.

“We put posters up, started a Facebook campaign, used Lost and Found Pets on the Internet and contacted all the rescue centres and veterinary practices in the area,” said Lorna.

“A lead came up on Lost and Found with a woman saying she had seen Sugar in the Cityside and I spent four hours in the Brandywell looking for her on Thursday, but the dog was found in Newbuildings on Friday by a group of young boys, who found her trapped in brambles in a hedge. She was in very poor condition and had lost an immense amount of weight. To be honest she would not have lasted another day,” said Lorna.

Thankfully, Sugar is recovering well, but Lorna said the main reason she had contacted The Sentinel was to thank those involved in the small dog’s rescue, and in particular the young boys who had rescued her.

“You always hear so much that is negative about young people today, and particularly after what happened to that other dog, Cody, which died, so I wanted to highlight that young people are good,” said Lorna.

“On the day that Sugar was found a man called Micky Allen was exercising his dog at the football field. There were young boys over there and we have been told that as the man walked his dog he was made aware of the boys all gathered together, and they called to him that they had found a dog and to help them. Mr Allen went over to them and between them they rescued the dog.

“What happened nest is this: Micky Allen went home and told his son, Ian, and Ian then contacted a friend on Facebook, Judith Campbell. Judith had been in contact with me all week about the dog, and I really cannot say enough about how good she had been,” said Lorna, adding: “But I really want to thank the boys Kane Smyth, Joel Wilson, Cameron Knight and Calum Boyd. It was Kane who rescued the dog and Joel took off his hoodie and wrapped it around Sugar, because the wee dog was shivering with the cold. So he had the good sense to wrap the wee dog up to keep her warm.”

Strangely enough, Lorna said she had spoken to the same group of boys in the park on the day that Sugar had vanished.

“We are forever indebted to those boys. You always hear the bad things that young people do, and they never seem to get credit for what they do when they are kind. When they brought Sugar home Mark called them his ‘little heroes’ and that is just what they are,” said Lorna.