From cats being found in Starbucks to dogs being found after escaping on to the motorway, a Peterborough Lost Pets group on Facebook has amassed tens of thousands of members who look out for lost or distressed animals in the city.
You might have seen their posts on community Facebook pages, the volunteer team at Peterborough Lost Pets have spent hundreds of thousands of hours over the last year helping animals in need in the city.
A spokesperson from Peterborough Lost Pets said: “As a very small team of volunteers, we are reliant upon members of the community keeping an eye out for lost pets and letting us know if they have spotted one.
“We have had over 1,000 live reunites that have appeared on our group this year alone but it would be awesome if we could raise the numbers.” The group regularly post on social media to help locate pets that are missing, members go out at all times of the day and night to scan chipped animals which have been found and set humane traps to capture animals which are lost.
The group have helped to reunite animals of all kinds: dogs, cats, swans, ferrets, foxes and even geckos.
One cat named Mia found herself going for a coffee fix and sightseeing at Starbucks, when she went missing.
Staff member Sinead posted a photo of Mia who kept paying the coffee chain a visit.
PLP admin Jules noticed it looked like a cat that was posted as missing and helped reunite Mia with her owners.
Loving owners Charlii and Sean were pleased she was found and said ‘only Mia could live like Royalty whilst being homeless, living up to her pretentious princess nature sipping on cat milk and eating Dreamies provided by the lovely staff there’. Similarly the community rallied behind poor Cyril, a German Shepherd dog who escaped from his groomers in Orton Southgate. The pup had been rehomed in the summer having been rescued by the RSPCA, so was timid in his nature.
Far from home and close to the A1, Cyril was spotted close to the motorway.
Members of the public alerted the police who slowed traffic but sadly he was not caught.
Owner Peter, helped to track his lost pup with drones and searches.
Carl from the Peterborough German Sherpherds group searched the fields alongside the A605 where he had been spotted. After days of the search and traps being set up, Storm Barra swept the country and Cyril was still out there.
Fortunately he was found, when he showed up on a ring camera set up in a field and a special trap was remotely activated to catch him.
Safe and sound at home, Cyril is enjoying his time with his family.
The team which is made up of seven admin and volunteers aren’t currently looking to expand but hope more people can join their group and share posts. A spokesperson said: “The more eyes out there looking for lost pets, the more families we can reunite.
“It is very rewarding to reunite a much loved pet with their owner, and despite the heartbreak that comes with collecting a pet that has sadly passed away, we say ‘gone over the rainbow bridge’, it is nice to know that we have been able to bring closure to the family.”
A spokesperson from Peterborough Lost Pets said: “As a very small team of volunteers, we are reliant upon members of the community keeping an eye out for lost pets and letting us know if they have spotted one.
5.
On the 2nd of September, Alison Sheppard posted on PE4 Chatter after seeing a Grey parrot in the trees in her garden in the Fulbridge road area. We searched the field behind the house and talked with dog walkers and locals, just as we were calling it a day a lady called us over, he had been seen on a house a few streets down. After a few days of chase, PLP had tracked down the parrot's owner who was a man named Budgie. Eventually the bird was trapped after flying to Woodston and Farcet! Now safe and sound at home his family are delighted to be with him.
Photo: Midlands
6.
An injured cat was posted on social media having been found in Werrington. The team at PLP jumped to action quickly to help trap the cat and give her the best care. The found cat was Isla, who had been missing for 6 months in the same area. As she was chipped the vets tried to call her owners, but unfortunately, there was no answer. We set about contacting her owners through Facebook. They were ecstatic with the news and wanted her to have any vet treatment she needed.
Photo: Midlands
7.
Luna was adopted from the RSPCA on New Year’s Eve 2018. Despite being a little nervous at times, she settled well and loved snuggling on her owner’s crocheted blankets. In June 2019, Luna’s neighbours moved, and Luna vanished. Fast forward to August 2021, Peterborough's Lost Pets received a message from one of our lovely members, Lisa, to say she had thought she had found Luna and shared a picture with us. It certainly looked like a match and checks with the vet, came back as a positive. She had been missing for more than two years. She was only half a mile from home! Owing to a misunderstanding in the cul-de-sac where she appeared, people moving in, people moving out, everyone thought someone else owned Luna.
Photo: Midlands
8.
Cheeky Cherry escaped from a kennels where she was staying, through a tiny gap. All forces came together including the team at PLP, the kennels, Drone SAR For Lost Dogs UK, The Lost Dog Trapping Team Search and Rescue Network. Heat detector cameras and even drones were used to locate the missing pup. She was only 100 yards away! She was successfully found by using her owner's dressing gown, where she recognised the scene and got comfortable on it. Then she was trapped and back in safety.
Photo: Midlands