More than 60 people helped Northampton woman when dog Bertie went walkies

Bertie went missing for seven hours before Hannah's pack of family, friends and total strangers found him.

When Hannah Evans, 25, from Kingsthorpe, got the call from her dog-sitter to say her pooch Bertie had run off, she had no luck finding him on her own.

But after an appeal to her dog-walking Facebook group, her family and friends and even to passersby, over 60 people came together to track down Bertie and bring him home.

Hannah was called to the field off Red Hill Way, in Wellingborough, on April 11 when her dog-sitter said Bertie had taken off during his walk and hadn't come back.

Just a handful of the people who helped search for Bertie celebrate his safe return.

She said: "He's never run off before. I felt upset. Even after just an hour I was worried, fearing the worst almost."

But Bertie, Hannah says, is a large whippet-poodle-collie-alsatian cross and would stand out from a mile away on the field. So she enlisted the help of anyone who was free on her dog-walkers Facebook page. Then she texted friends and family, who texted their friends and family. Then she asked other nearby walkers to keep an eye out and told residents in the nearby neighbourhood.

Before long, over 60 people were out searching for Bertie.

Hannah said: "It was like the troops had arrived. These were people I had never met before. I was shocked."

Then, six hours after he had gone walkies, Hannah got a call from two girls she knew who said they had spotted him on Finedon Road Industrial Estate, one mile from where he had disappeared. By the time she got there, Bertie was back on his lead.

Hannah said: "Word got out that we'd found him and we all met up. Everyone was cheering, some people were crying. Everyone just descended on him for cuddles.

"I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone for their support, for helping someone they didn't even know.

"Bertie was exhausted the next day after his seven-hour walk. Who knows where he got to."