Stolen Ruby ~ May 2018, Gerrards Cross

Recently released shocking statistics show that 16% of all dog thefts happen whilst families are doing what all dog owners love to do; walking their dogs – so today we want to appeal for information that might help reunite Ruby with her family.

Joining her family when she was just 8 weeks old, Whippet cross Saluki, Ruby lived with her family in Gerrards Cross, South Buckinghamshire and was leading a very normal, comfortable life.

Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of knowing a Whippet knows how highly intelligent and very focused they can be and Ruby was no exception. She understood far more words than she secretly let on to and was quite assertive and bossy – a true character.

The Day Ruby Was Stolen

On 5th May 2018, Ruby and her family Rae, Neil and dog brother Louis set off for a normal evening walk on the fields that back on to Amersham Hospital. Both dogs had been chasing a tennis ball and enjoying a dry, warm walk with nothing unusual taking place.

Louis, who was very protective of his favourite toy, had misplaced the ball and wouldn’t move without it, so Rae headed off to its last known location whilst Neil ran ahead with Ruby into the adjoining field. Ruby entered the field first and in the seconds that it took Neil to catch up, Ruby had vanished.

Calling for Ruby, which would normally bring her out immediately, didn’t result in her reappearing. Straight away they knew something was wrong. While Ruby did love a game of hide and seek, she was extremely obedient and would always return on command.

Looking For Stolen Ruby

For the next hours, days and weeks, Rae and Neil searched tirelessly, looking for their much-loved Ruby. They enlisted the help of tracker dogs, drones and even took a helicopter up so they could see from a higher view-point, but not one sign of Ruby was ever found. No further sightings have ever been reported, even though the family turned to radio and press appeals to raise awareness for her. They also have very active social media platforms.

Rae says “A dog doesn’t just disappear into thin air. Whilst she might have been distracted she would always come back and if the worst had happened and she’d had an accident – we would have found her and certainly the tracker dogs would have done. We can only assume that at some point, shortly after she disappeared into the field, she was found by someone and they either thought she was a stray and believed they were doing the right thing by taking her home to look after her, or something more sinister happened and she was found and kept, knowing that she had a heartbroken family searching for her or she was involved in some sort of accident that was never reported – leaving us to this indescribable pain of ‘not knowing’.”

“We miss her every day and still have her beds and toys ready for the day she comes home.

I am more than heartbroken that my little shadow isn’t just one step behind me

and Louis has never really been the same dog since Ruby went missing, we believe he is just as heartbroken as we are.”

Appealing To The Public

The family want to appeal to anyone that either knows what happened to Ruby or knows where she is to come forward and give that information to DogLost.

Ruby is microchipped and the family details are up to date with the microchip company, reflecting that Ruby is a missing/stolen dog. She is spayed and was wearing a collar and a tag when she went missing. She was 4 years old at time of disappearance.

Ruby’s DogLost Profile

If anyone has any information relating to Ruby’s case or knows where she is, please do contact DogLost on 0844 800 3220, quoting dog ID 128717

Ruby’s DogLost Profile ~ click here 

Ruby’s Facebook Page ~ click here

DogLost Social Media

DogLost has an active presence on;

• Twitter ~ click here
• Facebook ~ click here
• Website ~ click here

Thank you to Rachel at The PawPost for connecting me with DogLost, so that I can help in the search for missing/stolen dogs.

Read about other DogLost Appeals here:

• Stolen Rio, English Pointer ~ March 2018
• Stolen Obie, Weimaraner ~ December 2018
• Stolen Ellie, Cocker Spaniel ~ October 2018
• Stolen Robin, Portuguese Podengo ~ October 2018