10 April 2024

Pet detective tackles mysterious Horsley disappearances

| Zoe Cartwright
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Pet detectives are on the hunt for three hounds who went missing from the same street.

Have you seen these dogs? Pet detectives are on the hunt for three hounds who went missing from the same street. Photo: Arthur and Co Pet Detectives.

It sounds like an Agatha Christie novel – the case of the missing dogs – but according to a pet detective, for three Horsley families it’s all too real.

Jimmy, a French bulldog, Max, a Chihauha, and Buddy, a Jack Russel terrier, all went missing from Timms Place over a 14-month period, never to be seen again.

All dogs were purebred males and – crucially – had not yet been desexed.

Anne-Marie Curry, of Arthur & Co Pet Detectives, is on the case.

“It’s quite concerning – if three children vanished from the same street over a 14-month period the police would very definitely be looking at each incident being linked,” she said.

“Two went missing a matter of metres from each other. Both seemingly escaped the yard, were seen by one witness, then vanished off the face of the earth never to be seen again.

“I’ve been a pet detective since 2017 and I’ve never seen a case of three dogs going missing from the same street under such similar circumstances.”

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Anne-Marie said the first dog to go missing was Buddy, who escaped while his owners were away, followed by Max two months later, then Jimmy, a year after Max.

She said that after the initial sightings none of the dogs were seen again.

They had not been taken to local vets or rescue groups or reported to council rangers.

Anne-Marie said undesexed, purebred male dogs were particularly vulnerable to theft.

She said Jimmy, Max and Buddy’s owners had not intended to breed them, but they had not yet been desexed due to their age.

Their families, including children, were devastated at their loss.

“Dogs can be mated almost unlimited times; they’re not out of action due to gestation periods, so they can father multiple litters at a time,” Anne-Marie said.

“That can put their lifetime breeding value into the hundreds of thousands, so we are very conscious of that in this case.

“These dogs were not intended to be bred, they were very much members of their families, and Jimmy’s family has primary school-aged children.

“It’s a very young age to learn the heartbreak of loss and not knowing what has happened to their pet.”

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She said she was keeping an open mind and urged anyone with any information to get in touch.

“Our job is to consider all possibilities, so we are looking for any information that may be of assistance in locating one or more of these dogs,” she said.

“So maybe someone at work mentioned a dog that looks like Buddy, Max or Jimmy advertised for sale, anything at all that might lead to them.

“Anonymous tips are welcome and we have an anonymous tip section on our website, or you can call our head office directly and anonymously.”

If you have an idea about the whereabouts of Buddy, Max or Jimmy, head to: Arthur & Co. – Australia’s only comprehensive pet detective service (arthurpet.com)

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