The owner of a dog which vanished in a Peak District beauty spot has pleaded for his safe return and is offering a huge reward for information.
Angela Casaley was walking her cocker spaniel, Enzo, near Valehouse Reservoir in the Peak District on December 5, 2020, where they walked regularly.
Angela, from Hyde in Cheshire, was walking with two young family members and stopped to climb over a small wall, but when she turned around Enzo had gone.
She believes the 20-month-old cocker was stolen while running through undergrowth, with a huge search taking place following his disappearance and a £10,000 reward now available.
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She said: “We were just literally a few yards away and he was running back to us. We turned around, and he had just gone, completely disappeared.
“Obviously there was a big search that went on, but nobody had seen him. Someone might have seen him 10 minutes after he disappeared, but they’re not sure if it was him or not.
“We just really don’t know what happened, we haven’t seen him since. We’ve searched there, we still go there almost every day, but I don’t think he is there.”
Angela, who is in her 60s, said that mountain rescue teams have used drones to try and find Enzo, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, a Facebook group called Find Enzo has more than 500 followers and one of Angela’s own posts has been shared more than 31,000 times.
Angela’s other dog, Jess, a 12-year-old springer spaniel, has been left visibly agitated and upset since Enzo’s disappearance, leaving the whole family wanting him safely returned.
Angela said: “He was lovely. He was so friendly, wonderful with dogs, absolutely fantastic with children, he was overfriendly really, so it would have been quite easy to pick him up.
“It would have been quite easy for someone to take him, because he would go. If someone gave him a treat or stroked him, he would do as he was told and would just go.
“He was a lovely dog, so good natured. Jess really misses him, terribly, I know she does. She’s old, so I hope we find him while we’ve still got her, because she still looks out for him after 11 months. She took him under her wing, when we got him.
“It’s terrible. It’s absolutely terrible. You can’t get your mind off it at all because we don’t know what’s happened to him, we don’t know where he is.
“Is he still alive? Who has got him? How is he being kept? It is like losing a child, it’s terrible. It has had a massive effect.
“Maybe someone has taken him to the vets. If that was Enzo who was found 10 minutes after he disappeared, then someone has obviously taken him home.”
Enzo, who is microchipped, is now part of an ad campaign for missing dogs alongside sprocker, Blue, who went missing near Pic Tor in Matlock in June.
The campaign is run by voluntary organisation Dog Lost, and raw food company The Farmer’s Dog, who now attach missing dog posters to all of their online deliveries.
It comes as dog ownership has surged rapidly during the pandemic, with an estimated two million four-legged friends purchased in the first six months of lockdown.
But that has also led to an increase in thefts, with Dog Lost reporting 465 thefts in 2020 and 254 in 2021 as of October 20.
They recommend microchipping your dog, privatising social media accounts so thieves cannot see your dog, being wary of strangers and letting dogs off the lead, ensuring that your garden is secure with alarms or cameras if needed and considering insurance policies that cover missing pets.
While there is no blanket law enforcing dogs being on leads, there are several orders which enforce them being used in certain public areas, such as children’s play areas, roads and beaches. Those who don’t comply can be fined up to £1,000.
Angela has now pleaded with anyone who may have bought Enzo in good faith to return him to his family.
She said: “If you have bought a dog or been given a dog in good faith that looks like Enzo please go and have him scanned, take him to a vets and have him scanned in case it is him.
“If you know it is Enzo, but you’ve become attached to the dog, please, we’re also attached to him. There is a large reward, so you can get another dog, but we want our Enzo back.
“Please don’t be afraid.
“You can do it anonymously, you can take him to a police station and say you found him.
“No questions will be asked. Anyone that knows where he is, and you want to let us know, there is a large reward still, if you ring my number, I can promise there will be no repercussions.
“We just want him back home.”
Anyone with information about Enzo should contact Derbyshire police quoting crime number 20000674784.
You can also contact Angela on 07940 872776.
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