100 volunteers using night vision search for missing dog

By JO STEELE - Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A search involving 100 volunteers, using night vision goggles and thermal imaging equipment, would be a Herculean undertaking if the hunt was for a missing person.
How much more impressive is it if the search is for a dog?

The dog in question is a cocker spaniel called Lady and she ran away earlier this month.

Former policeman Graham Turvey, 57, and his wife Cynthia, 56, have travelled 250 miles to set up an incident room on behalf of Lady's owners.

The couple, from Morpeth, Northumberland, gathered teams of up to 30 people at a time to scour every inch of land in and around Milton Keynes.

Some have come from as far as Carlisle. Lady was rescued from a puppy farm earlier this year by the Northern English Springer Spaniel Rescue centre, which the Turveys run. The chocolate and tan bitch was re-homed in Milton Keynes on November 9 but ran away within a day.

When her new owners reported Lady missing, Graham and Cynthia sprang into action.

Graham, a sergeant with Northumbria Police for 33 years, said: 'It gives you the skills to search a particular place more thoroughly and think about the search methodically.' Their incident room has sleeping bags, maps and a computer.

'The support we have received is incredible,' said Cynthia. 'We'll search until we find Lady. When we took her in we made a commitment to her and we'll stand by that. You don't give up on a dog.'

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?100_volunteers_using_night_vision_search_for_missing_dog&in_article_id=776563&in_page_id=2