By Cara Sulieman
A FAMILY whose dog went missing three weeks ago were told that he was dead – only to find out the call had been a cruel hoax.
Angela Blyth, 43, hasn’t seen her dog Bailey since he went missing on February 4 when out playing in the snow.
And last week the family got a phone call from a withheld number claiming the cocker spaniel was dead.
But when they went to look for his body they couldn’t find anything and realised it was a mean trick.
Bailey went missing in the Fairmilehead area of Edinburgh earlier this month whilst the city was covered in snow.
When out for a walk, the dog was playing around in deep snow before running off and disappearing.
As Bailey is all white, apart from brown patches on his ears, it was impossible to see him in the winter wonderland.
So it was a great relief to Angela to receive a phone call saying that the canine had been found.
She said: “He said that he had seen a dog like Bailey lying on the side of the road. When I asked if Bailey was injured he said that unfortunately he was dead.
“I was so upset. Bailey is a lovely wee dog and it was just so upsetting to hear that he had died.
“He sounded like a gentlemen, a very mature person and I didn’t think twice about believing him.”
A friend went round with Angela’s 15-year-old daughter Kelly to look for the tragic mutt’s body – but they couldn’t find anything.
It was only then that Angela started to think that the call had been a hoax.
She said: “I called the council, police, everybody that would remove a dog’s body but none of them had been called out to that area for months.
“I even went and chapped on doors round about after work to try and see if anyone had seen or heard anything but they hadn’t.
“That’s when I realised it was a hoax. I couldn’t believe it. The whole thing was so distressing.
“My daughter was off school when we got the call so she thought he was dead as well and helped to look for his body which she found really hard.”
But despite the hoax call, the family have had a lot of kind words and offers of help from neighbours and strangers.
Angela said: “Some people have been really kind. We’ve had phone calls with people offering to help us in any way they can to find Bailey.”
