ALFIE HAS NOW BEEN MISSING OVER 4 years now :-(....
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE ANYTHING ON THIS DEDICATED PAGE TO HELP FIND HIM :-) Andy H
Will Labrador Alfie Black be back home for Christmas?
Ever since he disappeared into a crowd of tourists after being startled by a firework, the plight of a ‘celebrity’ labrador has attracted increasing interest.
Published: 15 December 2011
by TOM FOOT
WHEN most people go through the stomach-churning upset of losing their dog, they check the local vets and post notes to trees in a desperate hope they will be reunited with their missing pet.
But those in search of Alfie Black, a black labrador who vanished five months ago, have not left it at that. A whole search team has been assembled to find him.
Perhaps the country’s most exhaustive search for a missing dog, creating a tale full of twists and turns with a plot mixing hope and despair, his owners say they will never give up.
Alfie, a popular animal celebrity in Covent Garden who performed with his owners in the Bojangles troupe every day, fled an exploding firework on July 14, disappearing into the crowds.
Every day since has brought fresh hope for his owners who have travelled the length of the country to find four-year-old Alfie, and bring him home to his labradoodle puppies in time for Christmas.
They were born after Alfie disappeared and he has never seen his offspring, five super-cute pups.
He has featured on Barking at the Moon – BBC Radio’s two-hour dog call-in programme – and the hunt recently won backing from the comedian Alan Carr who asked people to be on the look-out.
Thousands have joined the search online through Facebook and Twitter, with many posting comments such as “all I want for Christmas is for Alfie Black to be united with his family”.
Now a “substantial reward” has been offered for information leading to his return.
Owner Ezme Gaze said: “Alfie has a lovely temperament and is badly missed by thousands of people. All leads will be treated with complete confidentiality.”
At one stage during the search, the “Find Alfie Black” team employed a Dowser, whose search wrongly predicted he was being held captive in Sussex.
Finally, his owners thought they had found him in a farm in Kent but, alas, the black labrador was not Alfie.
A perfect doppelganger was spotted with a homeless man in Charing Cross station – but again it was not Alfie Black.
The search has won him legions of supporters across the country.
Team coordinator Lesley Isles got involved after seeing a poster on a railing.
She said: “Perhaps Alfie is being taken to the park and you see him every day?
“Or you know someone with a new glossy black labrador? Whisper ‘Alfie’ – It could be our boy.”
CCTV captured Alfie – who is micro-chipped and has a distinct, tiny patch of grey under his chin – running out of the Covent Garden piazza on July 14, and he was later seen stopping at zebra crossings waiting for the lights to change.
He was believed to have been spotted swimming alone each morning in a lake in Battersea.
His owners slept overnight in their camper van hoping to spot Alfie, but he did not show up and the police told them to move on.
The Find Alfie Black team believe the dog has been sold to an unsuspecting family – and they have started campaigning to raise awareness about a dog black market.
The current economic climate is being blamed for many missing pets – some can sell for several hundred pounds.
Co-owner Tim Bastable said: “Since Alfie vanished, we realised theft of adult dogs, either for commercial reasons or because of the ‘finders keepers’ principle, is becoming a really big issue.
“I know it doesn’t compare to all the terrible social ills, ecological woes and economic terrors in the world today, but it’s something that causes thousands of families genuine distress every week and something that is in our power to solve.
“So we want to keep the campaign running and, whilst we still want Alfie’s name up there in the lights, we want to ask everybody to be aware of the misery buying or keeping adult dogs causes.”
He added: “If you find a stray don’t just keep him – report the dog to ‘Dog Lost’, the local dog wardens and the police.”
Comments
Alfie the dog.
I know exactly how you feel having lost and found my dog a couple of years ago. ........If those damned fireworks were banned this would never have happened! Fireworks terrify our dogs and cats.
WE KNOW HOW YOU FEEL !
Hi my name is sonia,
I know exactly how you are feeling.... My dog who was also featured in
the camden journal last year has vanished into thin air ! she is a white
German Shepard and we miss her dearly, we done everything possible at
the time like putting posters up informing all dog rescue centres and
the police and the council but have not heard a word and it is extremly
heart breaking knowing that some one out there knows something but is
not telling us,
I sincerly hope you find Alfie and dont give up! even tho I feel some
times I will never see her again I still have that bit of hope that we
will. they are a member of the family and it leaves a big hole when
something like this happens..... it will be a year in febuary for me
since she went missing and it does make me angry ! that people might
think they are helping by taking in any stray dogs but it is important
for people to relise that they just might belong to someone so they
should report any stray the find !
WE know how you feel !
Just to let you know we feel your pain...
Are dog vanished a year in febuary ! she is a white german shepered we
also had her picture in the camden journal and her storie, but we have
had know news whats so ever and it is extremly heart breaking ! we let
all rescue centres know of her vanishing, put posters up and have not
heard a word it's like she has vanished into thin air ! We are also not
giving up hope of finding her we miss her dearly and I sincerly hope you
find alfie they are a member of the family and people who find dogs
that are missing should report the dog to a local vet or police or there
local council dog warden !
sonia x
alfie
thankyou for such a fabulous story on this very sad case.....andy hunter.alfieblack admin team....@andyhunterart (twitter)