Rochdale praised by Halifax man after extensive hunt for his lost dog

A man from Halifax has praised Rochdale after scores of local people turned out in force to search for his scared dog after she ran away from The Flying Horse Hotel.

Dakota, a Boston terrier, was spooked at around 8.30pm on Tuesday 16 April, bolting in the direction of the town centre shops.

Her owner, Tony Seymour, from Halifax, said: “Dakota was spooked by a drunk lady who insisted on a cuddle. I was very worried and started to search for her immediately along with my friend, Damon.

“Once word got out, other friends came to help look and we soon had a team scouting every alleyway and building site and carpark within a mile. We didn’t find her.

“Thanks to social media, by midnight we had spread the word far and wide, but it wasn’t until tea time the following day we had word of a sighting.”

Dakota had been seen at the top end of Albert Royds Street heading in the direction of Littleborough, but the search party always seemed to be one step behind.

Tony continued: “I was frantic, and my kids were missing their little companion. Dakota is not the most robust animal – though she proved tough – and although the days she was missing were very warm, I was unhappy to think of her out on her own, knowing she would be frightened.

“She normally sleeps on my bed or with one of the kids.

“People from all over town wished us well and said they had seen the posts on social media and were looking out for her. The homeless people in Rochdale town centre were out helping to look and, after I left them to look further afield, gave me reassurance that if they could find her, they would get her back to the Flyer for me.”

He added: “Many people mistake Dakota for a fashionable French Bulldog. Because of this, and because we were twenty miles from home, I was really worried that I had seen her for the last time but after seeing the reaction of the people of Rochdale, Littleborough and later Wardle, these fears were allayed.

“I still worried about her welfare and traffic but I realised that the locals were mostly trying to help.

“Local vets and the RSPCA spread the word and an organisation called ‘Doglost’ made posters which we plastered on every social media we could.”

Acting as quickly as they could, the team were able to narrow the search area down: finally, after three days missing, Dakota was pinned down to a half square mile area in Wardle village - over three miles away from the Flying Horse Hotel.

Tony said: “A sighting finally located her hiding scared under a trailer in a garden, only a hundred metres from where I had based myself for the night. She was tired and hungry and dehydrated from being out in the hot weather, but otherwise unhurt, save for some scratches – presumably from bushes and such.

“I am so grateful to everyone who helped to find her, my close friends and friends from The Flying Horse who came out onto the ground to look for her, but also to everybody we spoke to both online and on the streets who helped to keep an eye out and kept the information coming.

“Rochdale is a smashing northern town with great people. That’s why I keep visiting.”