A DISTRAUGHT dog lover buried his beloved pet only to be reunited with the animal two days later.
Jimmy the Border terrier went missing last week after running off to chase deer.
Owner Scott Walker found what he believed were Jimmy’s flattened remains by the side of a dual carriageway and buried him.
So Scott, 36, was astonished when Jimmy turned up alive and well 48 hours later having been found by a friend.
It turned out Scott had found and buried an unknown black and tan terrier which had been killed on the city bypass.
After Jimmy ran off, Scott handed out around 1,000 posters in his local community and took to Facebook to plead for help.
After a week of desperate searching, he and girlfriend Cathy, 35, got a call to say an identical black and tan terrier was lying dead at the roadside.
Scott scooped the lifeless animal into his arms and buried him at a local golf course beauty spot.
But two days later Scott and girlfriend Cathy, 35, received a phone call from a Facebook user of the group Dugsnpubs to say they found wee Jimmy safe and well.
Scott’s devastation at the prospect of Christmas without his pet turned to elation after a Facebook friend called to say they had found Jimmy.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Scott. “It really is a Christmas miracle.
“To say we had given up hope was an understatement. We had just buried him after all.”
Scott said he refused to believe the news until Jimmy was back in his arms.
“We drove over thinking it was probably another Jimmy, but it was him.
“We got a very warm welcome from him. He was limping slightly and had a wee bit of a wild look in his eye, but other than that he was fine.
“We took him to the vet and found that he had lost over a kilo in weight. It’s thought that he survived by maybe feeding on a dead deer carcass.”
Scott put up physical and digital ‘lost’ posters that read: “If you see Jimmy, he’s very timid and will run away if you shout or try to approach him.
“Crouch down, don’t make eye contact, and offer some food (or let him see you feed your dog). If he’s in your garden please try to shut the gate.
“He is microchipped and has 2 ID tags.”
Scott was so convinced he had found and buried the “right” Jimmy he even wrote an online obituary for him on Saturday.
He wrote: “Sorry to let everyone know that our darling Wee Jimmy didn’t make it.
“Thanks so much to everyone for your efforts in helping us find him. At least we know he’s at rest now. Have a wee dram for him tonight. Lots of love, Scott and Cathy x”
Then on Monday he revealed to the world his joy at the return of the real Jimmy.
He wrote: “It’s unbelievable, but true. We got a call 2 hours ago from a lovely lady called Shella saying she found him in her garden.
“She managed to get him to come for food and she popped a lead on him. She then got him some food and water and called us.
“We drove up thinking is was probably another Jimmy, but it was him. We got a very warm welcome from him and he’s now sleeping in his favourite place.”
“He has a little limp and is off to the vet in 1 hour. When he came home he grabbed a toy and wanted to play, UNREAL!!”
Scott thanked like-minded dog owners who joined in the search but also expressed concern that someone else may be missing the dog that is now buried.
He added: “Sadly, we buried another wee doggy that we thought was Jimmy. It was the same colour and the same size but it was very difficult to identify. We had no reason not to think it was him.”
During his disappearance Jimmy was spotted at city parks and outside pubs – there were also sightings of him dodging traffic on the city by-pass.
Scott said: “His last sighting was in Winton Park at 1pm today. I got there very quickly and think that I may have scared him to run up onto Bypass slip road as I received a call saying he had ran in front of a car there at that time, but had escaped being hit.
“I also had a call saying they seen him being hit by a car yesterday at 5pm, but he got up and kept running.
“So he survived that and has kept on trucking.”
