Cara's Story
Cara is a rescue dog who went missing while out walking with her dog walker near the south coast cliffs. It was believed that a party of youths had accidently spooked Cara at Saints Bay kiosk causing her to panic and take flight. Cara is an anxious dog who is extremely nervous of people.
Unfortunately, the dog walker had not seen Cara run off but had soon realised she was missing from the group of dogs when they reached the bay.
Cara’s family contacted us after searching for many hours with no reported sightings. After a brief assessment of the area by our team we decided to go ahead and use search dog Star to see if we could pick up Cara’s scent and find a direction of travel. Star quickly found a trail that showed Cara had made a circuit heading up the cliffs and then back around towards the kiosk from another direction. We were confident Cara was still in the area.
We advised to park the family's car nearby over night
We advised the family to leave their car in the same place that the dog walker had parked. We suggested they either stay with the vehicle over night or leave the car open with Cara’s bed in it and walk home to leave a scent trail back to the house which was relatively close by. We hoped that Cara would either return to the car park or find her way back to the house where someone was waiting. Later that night we had a report of a sighting near Icart and a family member slept in the car nearby, but Cara remained missing overnight.
The following day was hot and far too warm to work the dogs until the evening, instead we worked with the drone pilots who checked the area that Star had tracked and they also looked at the cliff face in case she had fallen. Ground searchers checked any swimming pools and areas of interest that the drones had picked up on. Team members took the opportunity to put posters up and start door to door enquiries. This helped get the word to the nearby houses that a dog was missing and ensured that everyone checked their gardens. A plan was put in place to work the dogs again that evening and possibly use the thermal drone if the conditions were right.
With team work & determination Cara was found tired but safe
Star was joined by search dog Lumi at the location of the sighting and both dogs got to work that night, it was clear from their trails that Cara had been very active in the area and seemed to be doing circuits. Unfortunately, due to the forecast Aurora the Coast Guard made the decision that the thermal drone could not be used. The dogs worked hard but we soon ran out of light. One trail that appeared fresh ran down a path headed back to Saints Bay but the path was closed due to a land slide, conditions were difficult and we turned back to avoid injury. We decided to call off the search and start again at first light.
As we were making plans we received the news we were waiting for, Cara had been found safe and well in the family car which was still parked down at Saints Bay harbour. She had waited until dusk when it was cooler and quiet before making her way back to the safety of the car. Cara was found by a member of her family who was regularly checking the vehicle. She was all tucked up snuggly on her blanket in the boot resting after her rather stressful adventure. Cara was tired and hungry but safe.
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Cara’s search was a real team effort and proves working collaboratively makes a big difference. Cara’s family worked tirelessly with our Search Dogs Guernsey team. The drone pilots, Guernsey Coastguard, the GSPCA and residents in the area all played a massive part in the search. The general public were also amazing for following our advice and allowing us to do our job. We appreciate at times like this everyone wants to help but we had real concerns that large volumes of people would spook Cara even more and prolong the search.
