To whom it may concern, I would like to tell you the events that have occurred since my pet Shoeshine went missing on the Wednesday 13th of January from my home in Greenock.

 

My dog managed to juke out, around 4pm and as soon as I realised that he was missing I went out in my car and drove all around my area to see if I could find him. He did not come home that night and the next day I drove all around surrounding areas to see if I could find him to no avail. On this day, (14th) I contacted Greenock Police station to inquire if any black labradors with white bib had been handed in. I was told that they hadn’t got any dogs matching his description in their pound. The officer took my details – name, address and phone no, and description of my dog.

 

On the Friday 15th, I called Cardonald Cat and Dog Home to see if they had my dog? The person I spoke to said they did have a black lab in, however, he was not brought in from the Greenock area.

 

I was advised that despite this, I could come and view. I inquired what age the dog that they had was? She told me that it was a guessing game! But a male voice in the background said it was only an old dog! I then told her my dog was only 2 years old and she said well it won’t be your dog then. In the meantime, I was still driving around whenever possible to see if I could find him. I called Greenock Police Station again on the Sunday, to see if he had been picked up, but was again told No.

 

I then managed to contact Allison Black, who Ive heard of, who runs the local voluntary helpline for lost and found pets, on the Monday evening. When I spoke to her, she strongly advised me to actually go to Cardonald to see the dogs for myself, as she explained on more than several occasions, even when dogs have been micro chipped, the owners have not been contacted by the SSPCA, and when they have gone, they have found their pet sitting in one of their cages! I called Cardonald on the Tuesday, and they then told me that they had a dog matching his description there since the Thursday! I was advised to come up and view on the Wednesday.

 

I asked what would happen if it was in fact my dog, and I was told it would cost me £144.50 to get him back. I told them then, that I had called them on the Friday 15th, and I was told that he was not there! I explained that I am a single Mum, and that I couldn’t possibly afford that amount of money. They told me if I came up on the Wednesday then they could maybe work something out.

 

I went up on the Wednesday afternoon, not being familiar with this area, got lost, and when I found my way back to Cardonald it was nearly 4pm, so I called them and told them I’d got lost, the man then gave me directions how to get there. I was told I could still view the dogs, but would not be able to take him home that night if he was there, as the computers go down! Upon arriving at the SSPCA home, at 4.10pm, I was taken directly to the dog that I had described, as a black lab cross with a white patch on his front chest and he had a black collar on.

 

I spotted him immediately and when he saw me and my young son, he was jumping up at the cage, looking very pleased to see us. The man then asked if he was my dog? So, when I told him it was my dog, he then explained that he was obviously a bit distressed at seeing us from the other side of the cage, but he would settle down when we left as that would be him for the night.

 

When I looked into his cage I noticed that both stainless steel bowls were empty!

 

I explained to him that I had infact called them on the previous Friday, and he said that I would need to take it up with the front office, where I then went.

 

There was a girl at the office waiting to deal with me, but she left to deal with something else and a man came upto me and asked me what the story was. I started to explain that I had called on the Friday, and he interrupted me and told me that they had discussed that day at lunchtime that the person who called on the Friday hadn’t been up to view the dogs. I tried to say to him that I was told it was a black lab, elderly dog and wasn’t mine! By this time, another young girl came into the office and he turned and asked her what they discussed again. I tried very hard to tell him that I had told them on the previous days telephone call that there wasn’t any point in coming up as there was no way I could’ve come up with that amount of money! They argued that they had told me on the Friday to come up, but they had stated that it was an elderly dog! And couldn’t be mine. I did make the offer that I could find the money to pay for him to cover the cost of the Thursday to the Friday when I initially called them. They basically tried to make me out to be a liar, and I was extremely distressed by this group of people who did not seem to want to listen to me at all, and I ended up in tears.

 

I pointed out that I had contacted all other possible information sources like the Police, believing that the dog warden would let the Police know what dogs he had taken in and delivered to Cardonald and knowing that the dog warden in this area does not work at the weekends.

 

They did not seem willing at all to listen to me, and I was getting more and more upset, as was my son, so, I told them to forget it and went to walk out. They called me back and said don’t you want to know how much it will be to get your dog back now? I told them that I was advised the day before that it would be £144.50 and was then told that Greenock District doesn’t charge £25 district charge, so it would only be £119.50. I then said that I did not have that kind of money and I would be speaking to a solicitor about them. They shrugged their shoulders in a couldn’t care less attitude and one person commented that they wouldn’t get into an argument with me. I tried to leave again, and was asked do they have a contact number for me, I replied yes they did have my number, a man said no they didn’t appear to have a number which I found to be strange as someone from there called me at 15.45 pm and left a voicemail asking if I was coming up.

 

I left and had to sit in the car for a while to comfort my son, and compose myself before driving back home without our beloved pet.

 

I did contact a solicitor on the Thursday 21st of January and explained all of the above and he has advised me that he will write to this Animal Welfare charity on my behalf.

 

I have not had an update from him as yet.

 

I would really like to thank everyone for their emails, help and support, which I am really grateful for.

 

Thanks

 

Coleen