Elly Goes Missing

Elaine and I arranged to spend a long weekend over the 2010 August Bank holiday caravanning at the Scottish Kennel Club show, along with our five Staffords. On the Friday before the show we elected to take three of the dogs and set off for a walk in the beautiful countryside around the 15th Century Rosslyn Chapel situated just south of Edinburgh and featured famously in the film, The Da Vinci Code.

The walk starts at the Roslin Glen Country Park car park and follows the river downstream for around two miles before returning to Roslin through country fields and tracks. About a mile into the walk we hit upon a pebble beach beside the river and the dogs charged in and out of the water, pure enjoyment for them and a sight for sore eyes for us. The next section of the walk climbs high above the river, which disappears from view as you gain height and eventually the path levels out.  It was here that two of the dogs, Elly and Cleo decided to indulge in a squabble on the narrow path. I tried to grab one or both as the fracas carried on, now off the path and down the steepish bank running adjacent to the path. In a matter of moments they were rolling as one, further and further down the bank, with me desperately following, my attempts to arrest them proving futile.

In total shock, I had to try and get down there but after some initial exploratory investigation the only way down was to follow the path to the end of the crags, where it once again meets the river and then make my way back upstream to the bottom of the crag where I thought the dogs might be. This was not easy, the terrain is not too dissimilar to the Amazonian jungle, totally overgrown with every manner of greenery, fallen trees, rocks, boulders; nobody ever goes here. The going was tough, it was at least half an hour before I reached a small rocky ledge about a foot wide with the river just below and the crags towering above. All the time I could hear Elaine shouting, most of it, incomprehensive, she was trying to guide me to the right spot, but in the event she was in the wrong place and we couldn’t see each other even if we could just about hear. As I edged my way along the ledge with my back to the river, I looked down to my left as the ledge got slightly wider and I was able to turn and there in a cleft in the rock, unbelievably, was Cleo, staring wild eyed, just stood there, water dripping off her, she was immovable as though in shock, as she must have been. I shouted up to Elaine “I’ve found Cleo, I’ve found Cleo”. I briefly examined her; she seemed OK, no broken limbs, no apparent damage to her back, in fact no apparent damage at all. And there was me, expecting to find two dead bodies or severely injured ones, at best. However, there was no sign of Elly.

Miraculously, Cleo was able to walk, so we made our way upstream, through yet more jungle and eventually arrived at the beach where the dogs had been joyfully playing only a short time before and where Elaine was waiting. She took Cleo back to the car, whilst I returned to try and find Elly – all the way back from whence I came along the river downstream, all the time checking for signs of life on the riverbanks, calling her name, her pet name “Chick Poppin, Daddy’s here” or searching for signs of death in the crystal clear river.  After further negative checks at the top of the crags where there are a number of ledges just below the top I thought there might be a chance that she could be back at the car park. Afraid not. Elaine and I returned once more with Cleo now safely in the car and we searched until dark and again next day and the next day after that.

There were a number of sightings, mainly in the two weeks after the incident, any one of which could have been her, but equally they may not have been. Unfortunately, no-one was able to capture the dog(s) concerned.  Desperation took over and a number of psychics were approached and all their suggestions were followed up, to no avail.

And now, more than 13 years after this event Elly has never been found. The general consensus is that she was taken in by someone and they have either chosen to ignore our publicity and the reward or have not been aware of either. Some, including Elaine consider that she never emerged from the “jungle” and is at peace there (as one of the psychics put it). At the time she was wearing a collar and a rather yellow distinctive harness (none of the sightings included a harness), both with a tag. Elly is also micro-chipped. We are now left with the one hope that we get that call – “we’ve got your dog here” – some hope.

Finally I would like to thank the internet site Bullbreedson-line which provided the means for communicating and co-ordinating the search effort and also for allowing fellow Stafford enthusiasts to express their support and concern.

Elly is otherwise known as Mintmar Look Again for Tikkurilan and Cleo is Stormpike Cleopatra of Tikkurilan.