Jacob Houdini ?

Apologies the late posting of news.
It's been (to say the least) a crazy, and somewhat very tiring week.
That is tiring both physically, and emotionally.

Before I waffle on and bring you up to date I have to say a huge Thank You to everyone who has emailed us and sent advice and support, it's truly amazing how many of you are out there just willing Jacob to be back home.

There are also many of you who are also looking for your lost pets, and I sympathise with you all knowing the heartache it brings.
It's been a (very scary) eye opener for us as to how big a business dog knapping is, it's incredible the lengths these thieves go to to get the dog they want, so please, please make sure your dog is microchipped, and take extra care leaving them in your garden if it's easily accessible to anyone. From the stories I read, there are no lengths a thief won't go to to get the pet it wants.
So beware. You really don't want to have to go through this nightmare, take it from me.

I have to mention a lady that has a blog that reaches out to lost pets everywhere, she is doing sterling work, so please support her where you are able, and take a look at her blog in case any of the pets there are ones you might have seen in your own area.
Lesley lost 2 cats, one of which is still missing, he is Sam and is missing from the Peterbrough area. Full details him are on her site below :

http://www.foundandlostpets.blogspot.com/

Thank You................


...............Back to Jacob's plight, well we have, as you know been on the trail of someone who has been seen with a dog very much described as being Jacob, this dog in question being walked in a park over in Welwyn Garden City.
I can tell you that now, as we have waited and waited, and waited some more for him to walk this dog, but have unfortunately not been lucky to see him no matter what time of day we've been there, and we've been there some odd hours I have to say.
The lovely lady who has initially informed us of this sighting in the first place, has herself been out too, as well as our brilliant friends, who have trailed themselves around the park in all weathers, in order to try to catch a glimpse of this fella and the dog.

Jon and I have been there too, most days, and all weekends up until Saturday.
So far none of us have seen this fella, which as disheartening as it is, is pretty strange too.
We wonder now if somehow he knows we are out looking ?
That said it's hard to know if he's been out or not, it's difficult to know as it's so easy to miss people.
A lady I spoke with on Saturday just gone, had said that some of the fisherman around the park are not all as nice as they might firstly seem, so we wonder now, that as we know the fella likes fishing, that perhaps one of them we discretely gave a flyer to last weekend had tipped him off we were out in force.
Who knows ........

It's fair to say that in the past 10 days not one of the regular walkers has seen him, and we did flyer many of them in the hope that one of them would catch a glimpse. So far nothing.
We can't understand it. Even the lady who initially called is bewildered too.
We do know that this fella had been ill, we know that through someone who vaguely knows him (but not well enough to tell us where he lives etc) so that kind of covers a few days last week.
We also know from this fella that the dog is constantly wanting to go out, so it makes us wonder, does he not have garden access, does he live in a flat or apartment ?
Seems noone has seem him around, which is extremely strange, as a dog needs a walk whatever time you have, be it a 10 minute trot round the block or a 2hr trek, they need a walk surely, and Jacob I know for a fact would drive you mad being cooped up all day without a run.

After spending more time around the park at W.G.C than we have done at home this past 10 days, on Saturday we grouped together some friends and decided that we would put flyers through the doors on the estate we believe he lives on, and also we also postered the whole of the park, and the surrounding areas.
If he is a kind man, then hopefully he will give us a call, even if it's to eliminate the dog he has if it's not Jacob. We just need to know, one way or another.
Right now, it's taking the emphasis off us doing anything elsewhere.

I'm assured that the fella we want to see is the sort of man who would want to do the right thing, and we're told he would not want to deny us our dog if it was Jacob, and that does reassure me a little that he may well ring us in time.
We heard that he bought the dog from Travellers, and that it was from a place called Dale Farm.
Of course we Googled Dale Farm in Welwyn, which only came up with a Dairy Crest depot, whose manager kind of laughed at us requesting info about any Travellers working there, or having been there at all.
Then the penny sort of dropped, and we remembered back to that original Googling and that it brought up a Travellers site called Dale Farm/Crays Hill in Billericay.
This is the Travellers site that is one of the largest in the UK, and is usually in much controversy over the ownership of land etc, and makes the news quite often I am told.
I am not saying they are bad people there, but could this be where this fella had 'found' Jacob ?

He apparently said that he 'got' him from a 'Dale Farm', so perhaps he was working nearby in Billericay, met up with travellers in the local pub, and got asked about the dog ?
Apparently it was chained up at a Travellers site, and that the Travellers said "So do you want it then or not, we can't do nothing with it, we've tried"
I daren't think what that means, but if this fella saw this dog chained up, and took pity upon it enough to hand over £100, and drive off with it, well in my eyes he can't be all bad can he.
Really, if it does turn out to be Jacob, then he did us a huge favour didn't he.

If he is reading this, and is worried, all we want to say to him is this.
"We just want to know if the dog you have is ours. Nothing more, nothing less. It's that simple. We aren't looking for any trouble, getting the police involved etc, we just want Jacob back if it's him, and the monies paid out by you will be suitably reimbursed.
We don't need any contact even. Just leave him with someone, a rescue centre - a friend of yours even, and let us know where to find him. Even a photo of him to 07828 671550 would be a good way for us to see if it's Jacob or not.
A local vet would be a good start if not, as Jacob is microchipped so they will see we are his legal owners. I hope you will do the right thing, for everyone's peace of mind, and to make this nightmare be over for us. Pure and simple, we just want our dog back, not any trouble that you might feel could come with that".

So, as you can see, there really is not much else for me to tell you, even though there is much going on, for the most part so far without result sadly.

We have now, as I said earlier, postered the park and surrounding area so that the public can do the work for us.
We will stay away for a while now, and take a step back to let things evolve naturally if they are going to.

We really hope that something good can come of the hours we've spent over there, the work we've left behind to do that.
Our emotions are running high right now, waiting to know if he's there, or whether the dog is Jacob or not. One way or another we will find out.
It's hard to move on from this until we know for sure. It's like mental torture as for a second there we felt we had him in our sights, but as time moves on the tunnel of light just keeps getting darker and darker........
Someone must know something surely, and I hope that they will step forward and tell us any information they know regardless of how irrelevant they feel it is.
The posters and the flyers have to do some of the work for us now.
We just have to wait and be patient ................ again.