Update On The Search For George..

Last edited by JulieB on Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:54 am; edited 1 time in total

Caroline, who is Georges owner has been working so hard to try and find her beloved lab George. This is what she has done so far:

Caroline writes:

- I wrote to over 1000 vets in surrounding counties sending them a poster and description of his epilepsy in case a new dog was registered showing his symptoms;

- I have flooded all local areas especially dog walking areas with posters, and helpers from other areas have also put up posters;

- I've contacted ALL Dog wardens, local highways, Rescues, Lost Dog Sites, Kennels, anything Dog related in fact on the internet, have scoured all profiles of aol members who mention dogs as a hobby asking for their help; he has his own web page;

- George is listed on ebay;

- I've been on Radio Solent and Local Reading Radio;

- Meridian have run a short news story on us and have just filmed me for a half hour documentary on dog theft which will be shown in July/August; Together with 11 other owners of stolen dogs we put together a 'multi-dog' poster so we could get coverage of all 12 dogs over a bigger area, am now in the process of producing a 'postcard' with 5 others which can be given out at dog shows etc;

- We've put an advert into the Veterinary Nursing Times which has a nationwide coverage of 16,000 and will run next month and am also emailing as many local businesses as I can find online and asking them to put a poster up.

- Myself and another victim of theft are putting together a new website aimed at helping draw together rescues, wardens, and owners of lost dogs.

Now we are running Lostlabs...lets hope we can widen the search.

Newbie Joined: Jun 06, 2005 Posts: 40 Status: **Offline**

It is so lovely to see all the cross postings for George. I saw he has a feature on the Labrador Rescue South East and Central Web page. I do hope he is found soon.

Maybe I should have posted this on here instead of Rescue Sorry Embarassed

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 10:18 am Post subject:

Hi All,

We're in the process of adding photos of George to Lostlabs, here's a photo of him until then.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:34 pm Post subject:

Hello

Over the last week we have been putting together a media list and fingers crossed by next weekend we will have sent out an blanket email to the following forms of media in the UK

National Newspapers
Local/Regional Newspapers
National Radio Stations
Local/Regional Radio Stations
National TV Stations
Regional TV Stations

The email will contain a press release about George and to bring to peoples attention the seriousness of dog stealing in the UK, also a photograph of George.

We are also going to email details to certain radio and tv programmes which we think might be interested in carrying a story about George.

We also have a list of magazine who we think might be interested in publishing a story on George.

Finally we are trying to get some help from celebrities too.

We will keep you posted as to how things go - and if you have any ideas please PM us!

Sam & Rhoni

Newbie Joined: Jun 10, 2005 Posts: 7 Status: **Offline**

I have had a lot of very good responses from e-mailing schools and linking to a copy of Georges poster:
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/cmcmerritt/myhomepage/dog.html
A great many of them have been very helpful, printing the poster and displaying them on their notice boards and even also putting them outside their schools and in their local towns and villages. It is a very worthwhile excersise if some of you out there would be so kind as to help in this way. I have done the South East areas of Hampshire, Berkshire and Reading. To get the e-mail addresses go to:
http://www.schoolsnet.com/cgi-bin/inetcgi/schoolsnet/home/index-std.jsp
then, when the page comes up, ignore "Unfortunately the page you requested could not be found" and,
(1) On left, click on "Schools Guide"
(2) Top right, register with your e-mail address and a password. Log in.
(3) Click on your selected area of map or adjoining list of areas
(4) Should then get full list of schools in your selected area with those schools with e-mail addresses shown in bold type.
It would be great if you could cover the schools in your area as these notice boards are read by thousands of children of various ages, not to mention staff and parents.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:56 pm Post subject:

Is there a standard email to send ?

I can cover Birmingham schools for you there's 421.

Kev

Newbie Joined: Jun 10, 2005 Posts: 7 Status: **Offline**

Thanks Kev, yes there is a standard e-mail for schools and also a new poster of George that is more colourful and striking when displayed. If you will e-mail me on:
DandRMerritt@AOL.com

I will reply with the poster as an attachment and also forward the covering e-mail for schools. If anyone else can do the same as Kev to cover their area, please do the same and e-mail me. To find all the schools in your area please go to my three postings of 10/6 and 11/6 in "Plan to find George" on:

http://www.labradorforums.co.uk/modules.php?
name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2031

This gives full information on accessing the schools e-mails on this initially confusing site:

http://www.schoolsnet.com/cgi-bin/inetcgi/schoolsnet/home/index-std.jsp

Thanks again Kev and thanks in advance to anyone else having a go at this. It's this sort of help that I'm sure will eventually get George back home where he belongs. Thanks again.

Newbie Joined: Jun 10, 2005 Posts: 7 Status: **Offline**

Hi, Caroline's Dad here again. That link I gave you yesterday for Labradorforums came out faulty in my posting. BOTH of the two lines should have come out as the link but half did and half didn't. To get there, copy and paste the WHOLE of the two lines into your address bar.
Sorry about that.

Newbie Joined: Jun 10, 2005 Posts: 7 Status: **Offline**

There is another colourful, eye-catching poster for George which is ideal for shop windows, notice boards and car windows etc. May I invite as many people as possible to e-mail me (asking for George's poster) and I will reply with it as an attachment.
DandRMerritt@AOL.com

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:30 pm Post subject:

Hi Donrosa,

I am having dreadful probs my end, not being able to open email attatchments, I know the prob is my end. So can't get new poster of George. Sad

I will continue trying to sort it out, and when I have will cover all Devon schools ( 393 )

Chin up Very Happy

Rhoni

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:13 pm Post subject:

Donrosa

I you want to email the poster over to me then I can pass it on to Rhoni if you like.

I have sent you my email address in a pm.

Thanks

Sam

Newbie Joined: Jun 10, 2005 Posts: 7 Status: **Offline**

Sam, It's probably me, but I can't find your PM anywhere. Would you e-mail me asking for George's poster and I will reply with it as an attachment:
Dand RMerritt@AOL.com

Newbie Joined: Jun 10, 2005 Posts: 7 Status: **Offline**

My e-mail address (above) has come out wrong again, it's: DandRMerritt@AOL.com

Newbie Joined: Jun 05, 2005 Posts: 6 Status: **Offline**

Hi everyone, word is certainly getting around about my boy, getting lots of emails of support everyday, with people all over the country wanting to help and display posters which is fantastic. Thank you all so much for your help.

As George unfortunately wasn't chipped (something I'll never, ever forgive myself for), I'm just wondering, does anyone know if micro chipping companies will look up details of a particular dog? i.e. a 4 year old black lab that has been chipped in the last 3 months? If he has been sold on, with all the publicity recently on stolen dogs, new owners may have got him chipped. I'm looking into getting some of his hair genetically fingerprinted so that I can try to prove ownership if I do find him. Just wondering if anyone knows if this would be possible.

Caroline xxx

Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 10:17 am Post subject:

Hello Caroline,

I have to say I don't know about the chipping companies, but it certainly a brilliant idea, never thought of that......

Ummmm now where to start? Maybe a standard letter made up and emailed to all of them. Certainly nothing to lose.

I am happy to do that if you are short on time, no probs.....just let me know.

Am PM'ing you my email.

Regards Rhoni