A dog that got lost on the Scottish island of Arran still hasn’t been found but the search continues! By this point, Drogo the Bosnian, as the dog is named, has become a local celebrity.
Drogo the Bosnian rescue dog escaped last September, while his owner was walking him around his new island home.
The 7-month-search that came after that included prime cuts of meat, cameras for tracking wildlife, a lovely female dog, professional help, and yet – nothing has worked.
Drogo’s owner – Emma Campbell – refuses to give up and keeps searching. She is a 43-year-old paramedic and dog lover from Lamlash and she adopted Drogo after a heartbreaking social media post about the horrible lives of the dogs in Sarajevo.
Emma told BBC Radio Scotland’s Kaye Adams programme:
“We had only had him for four weeks and I was taking him on a couple of familiarisation walks.
“He was a very scared, very timid dog.
“We took him on some walks so he got used to the scent so that if he did get a fright and run off he could try to find his way home.
“So we stopped in Brodick and the plan was I was going to walk home with him.
“But when I opened the boot he just panicked and bolted out of the boot and that was it – we couldn’t get hold of him after that and he was just running scared.”
Ever since the escape, Emma, her husband Alan and their children Shaila and Gordon haven‘t stopped working to find Drogo.
The search for the dog turned him into kind of a local celebrity, together with the myth of the wild Puma roaming around.
“We have cameras, we have food stations, we cut up a T-shirt worn and scented by one of the shelter workers Drogo would know.
“We put out scent items from female dogs in heat. We tried freshly barbecued sausages.”
Emma even adopted Drogo’s sister Goldie to try and lure him back.
Source: Emma Campbell
Yet, Drogo is still at large.
The Campbells have asked for help from expert dog finders Lost and Hound Canine Capture Team. The team visited the area and will return next weekend with a larger cage trap and some fresh ideas.
Andy Tippins, a member of the team, explained: “Drogo has been a little more difficult than other dogs.
“But they are resilient. We have seen dogs survive six years on the streets in Manchester.
“We try to establish a food station in order that he uses it quite often. Then replace that with a trap.
“We are confident we can capture him with our 30 years experience.
“We will be back in Arran on Friday with a bigger trap.”
With their joint efforts, they hope to find Drogo as soon as possible – preferably before the start of the lambing season where a stray dog can actually cause quite a bit of trouble.
Any Tippens from Lost and Hound explains why Drogo won‘t come home.
“Drogo is not familiar with his surroundings. He has had a lack of socialization with humans. This can happen anywhere, at puppy farms or when they are kept in shelters with other dogs.
“It takes a while for them to adapt to a family and that can be why they run off.
“When a dog goes into survival mode, it reverts to its primal instincts, going back to the wildness of looking for food, shelter, and water.
“Once the dog finds a food source and water, it will stay in the one area. Eventually, we can replace a food source with a trap to recapture the dog.”
