THE “exhausting” search is over after hundreds of people joined together to help reunite a dog who has been missing for a fortnight with its owners.
Residents walked hundreds of miles and spent thousands of hours over the past two weeks trying to reunite Whizz with her owners Jocelyn Martyn-Smith and her partner Dennis.
 

Jocelyn Smith finally reunited with Whizz.Jocelyn Smith finally reunited with Whizz. Image DogLost Worcestershire

 

The couple, who are in their 80s, lost Whizz when she ran away while on a walk on St Wulstan’s Nature Reserve and became increasingly concerned when she did not come back.
It activated a whole search operation, with Malvern Lost Dog Alerts and Doglost Worcester teaming up to hand out leaflets, set up traps, and plant cameras across the Malvern Hills to find her.
Whizz was finally caught and reunited with her owners on Friday (July 26).

Whizz finally able to enjoy the comfort of her home again. Whizz is finally able to enjoy the comfort of her home. Image: DogLost Worcestershire

 

 

Whizz being captured.

 

Whizz: Image: DogLostWorcestershire

“We put an unbelievable amount of hours in,” said Margaret Mallett, one of the volunteers of Malvern Lost Dog Alerts.
“It took thousands of hours, and I do not know how many miles we walked, cannot even think.
“We went into full-on search mode. It was pretty exhausting, but then we were jubilant (when we found her).”
Mrs Mallett said when Whizz was finally reunited with the couple they were both stunned to finally have her back.

“It was lovely to see. They were quite overwhelmed and it is hard to know what to do.
“It was 15 days of stress and worry and they did what they could.
“They were almost stunned and when I look at  Jocelyn’s face - you cannot buy that.
“To see someone worried for 15 days and then smiling is so nice.”
As part of the search, the team had also used a drone from Drone Search for Lost Dogs.
The team was involved for four days and surveyed open areas in the hope of a signing of Whizz.
A spokesperson for Drone Search for Lost Dogs said: “We work closely with Malvern Lost Dog Alerts, offering advice, thermal drones, and tracker dogs.
“A thermal drone was deployed the following day (after Whizz went missing)  early morning and later that evening, also with a large ground search conducted by the Malvern team.
“Sadly, no sightings were found, only to pop up two days later by the hills, which is a no-fly zone, in which time it was then left to a trapping team to take over.”