Bryan Gould: Missing dog brings community out in force

COMMENT:

Belle is a lovely 15-year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan's Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy.

Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but - as a constant participant at social gatherings and as a regular presence in her daily walk on the beach - she is well-known and much loved by all of us at Bryan's Beach.

A few days ago, she asked, as was usual in the late afternoon, to be allowed outdoors for a spell.

It was a cold, wet and windy afternoon and, worryingly, she failed to return at the expected time. Michael and Judy messaged all their local friends through the local community online network to alert them and to ask if they would check their gardens, ditches and sheds for any sign of the missing Belle.

As the news of Belle's possible plight spread, the local community mobilised. Darkness was falling, but parties of searchers walked the beach, checked ditches and ponds, and shone torches into dark corners while calling her name.

But there was no sign of Belle.

Many of us began to fear the worst. We began to picture the poor creature, disoriented and uncertain as to where she was, in the dark and unable to see or hear, and having perhaps fallen into a tight spot from which she could not free herself.

The search went on till late at night, but to no avail. As midnight approached, the volunteers were reluctant to give up and had to be told to go home and that the search would resume in the morning.

Messages of concern and hope continued to pour in. Even neighbours overseas on holiday sent messages to signal their distress. Michael and Judy hardly slept a wink.

In the morning, with hope fading, Michael decided that he would have to retrace the searches he had already made. He found himself walking along the bottom of a deep and narrow steep-sided drain that ran alongside the road on which they lived.

He stumbled along, through blackberry and puddles, flashing his torch ahead of him. The light suddenly picked up what he thought might be the white ruff around Belle's neck. He bent down and discovered that it was indeed Belle. She was face down in the ditch and immobile, her black coat having made her indistinguishable from the black darkness of the night.

Michael is 72 years old but he found the strength to lift her out and carry her home. The news that she had been found was joyfully welcomed by the Bryan's Beach community. Belle was dried, warmed and fed, but had difficulty in moving. The cold seemed to have got into her bones.

She was taken to the vet and was found to have lost a kilogram of her normal weight and to be in need of rest, but otherwise to be on course to full recovery.

Judy and Michael agree that there are lessons to be learnt from the experience. Judy says that Belle's days of being allowed to go off "on frolics of her own" are over.

Michael, who is something of a philosopher, says that "whether or not, as some people dispute, there is such a thing as society, there certainly is such a thing as community - and we saw it in action last night. Even in our despair, we were warmed by the concern and generosity of our friends".

We are all lucky to be living in such a community.