Heartbreaking ending to whippet search

Monday 26 March 2018

Monty, the nine-month old whippet, who went missing in February and then eluded search efforts for more than a month has sadly been found dead.

The nine-month old grey and whippet went missing from Le Mont Mallet in St. Martin a day after he arrived in Jersey.

He had been on holiday in Jersey with his owners Roderick and Edita Collins, and was playing with another dog when they were both accidentally let outside by the cleaner. The other dog, who belongs to the couple's daughter, returned, but Monty never made it back.

His disappearance led to large-scale searches around St. Martin with members of the 3,000-strong Jersey Dog Forum and fellow dog owners getting involved. The owners initially offered a £600 reward which was then increased to £1,600 through donations, including one from QuidsIn. A Facebook group, which now counts over 1,200 members, was also set up to help monitor all search efforts.

A faithful team of islanders, led by JJ Gallagher, a specialist in tracking and rescue systems at RS Tracker, and his five-year-old Jack Russell, Sammie, and a group of volunteers - Amanda, Anna and Marie-Claire - spent hours outside in all weather trying to locate the missing pup.

Pictured: Monty had only been in Jersey for one day when he went missing.

After Monty was spotted over the weekend, JJ announced on the 'Search for Monty' page the sad outcome of the search.

He wrote: "It is with the heaviest heart and a few tears that Monty has been found deceased. The family are totally heartbroken along with the search team and wish to pass on our sincere thanks to everyone who helped in the search also landowners, media, fellow whippet owners from all over UK and further a field, people supplying equipment.

"This is not the result anyone wanted in any way and sorry i'm really struggling to put the words together about how sad this is. So many people to thank but really am heartbroken along with the others and don't know how to properly write it here. Once again from the family thank you to all in Jersey who went above and beyond to try and find their lovely Monty."