Dog lover helps rescue two pooches in one week (From Borehamwood Times)

Hertsmere Borough Council dog warden Lesley Lee help rescue two pooches in same week

11:02am Tuesday 26th February 2013 in News By Anna Slater

A dog darting through traffic near a busy road had a lucky escape after a passer-by stopped to help the animal.

Border terrier Beryl was spotted in Tylers Way, in Elstree, just after 5pm last week - after having been snatched from her home in Buckinghamshire the day before.

Dog warden Lesley Lee, who works for Hertsmere Borough Council, raced to the scene to try to  help the good Samaritan rescue the light brown pooch.

Mrs Lee said her gut instinct was that the dog had been stolen, so she was determined to reunite the three-year-old with its owner.

She added: “I was a bit worried because it is a busy road at that time of night, so dogs can become disorientated, scared and fearful if they don’t know their surroundings.

“Beryl wasn’t phased by her ordeal at all - she wasn’t panting or distressed so I was obviously very relieved about that. She actually seemed quite happy.

“It is lucky the lady stopped to help - it is human nature I suppose, we are a country of animal lovers, as they say.”

Despite scanning the dog several times, Mrs Lee found no microchip so the pet spent the night in nearby kennels.

But with thoughts of the tail-wagging pooch still on her mind, she logged onto national database Dog Lost and immediately found who she thought were Beryl’s owners.

The dog’s microchip was found in her shoulder the next day when she was finally reunited with her owner, Peter Jones and his daughter, Charlotte Monk.

She said: “Dad had gone out early in the morning when the house was broken into - they took Beryl and Dad was distraught.

“Beryl is hardly the most streetwise dog, but without Lesley we may never have seen her again.”

Four days earlier, dog lover Lesley also rushed to Dagger Lane, in Elstree, after a man spotted a black and white Jack Russell in the middle of the road at around 4pm.

Seven-year-old Sonny had been snatched from outside a Budgens store in Ruislip more than a month ago while his owner Damien Redfern was buying dog food.

Mrs Lee, who has been a dog warden for five years, managed to identify Sonny from his microchip with the help of her colleague, Debbie, who works at Three Rivers Council.

She said: “Sonny went bananas - it was an emotional and tearful return as his owner had given up hope he would ever see his dog again.

“This just goes to show what different authorities working together can do. It is really because of the Dog Lost site and microchipping we were able to return the dogs to their owners.”