A WIDESCALE search is underway for a dog that went missing following a crash on the M4 earlier this week.
Jo, a black and white lurcher cross, who was still missing this morning (Friday), along with another dog, Tye, fled following the incident on Tuesday afternoon in which a car struck a lorry parked on the hard shoulder, ending up on its roof.
The 76-year-old female driver of the car, who was on her way home to Wales at the time of the crash, was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading with broken ribs and facial injuries.
It is believed the dogs ran on to the eastbound carriageway before heading towards nearby fields.
Tye was found in a garden nearby and was taken to the vets, but Jo remains on the loose.
An animal shelter in Banbury where the dogs were originally fostered have coordinated a search and rescue operation, with dozens of local people joining the search for Jo since Wednesday.
Lesley Ford who works at the rescue said: “The dogs’ owner Jackie is an amazing woman, she has fostered for us for many years so when we heard about what had happened we just wanted to do all we could to find her dogs.
“She is still in hospital and is so worried, she just wants her dogs back. Thankfully we managed to find Tye quite quickly but Jo is proving harder to rescue.
“We’ve had about 20 people out looking for him today (Thursday), we know roughly where he is but it’s just a matter of getting to him before he moves again.
“We’ve had a few sightings of him near the Reading Lake Hotel in Pingewood, so we focused our efforts there on Wednesday afternoon, then we had a call from someone near The Cunning Man pub in Burghfield to say they may have seen him there, so we’re covering quite a large area.
“The people have been amazing though, we’ve had lots of people coming out to search on their lunch hours, people who are retired who have been out searching, we’ve even had people travelling over from Bracknell to come and look for him.”
Lesley said Jo can be quite timid around new people and other dogs, so if he is seen by a dogwalker it would be best to tie their dog up first before approaching him. If he is spotted, you should try to get down low, remain calm and call to him, offering smelly food if possible.
Lesley said: “He is used to people, so he should come if he is called. He’s not an aggressive dog so won’t bite. He will be getting quite hungry by now so would probably come if he smells food. We wouldn’t usually suggest cornering a dog but in this situation it may come to that.”
Anyone who spots Jo is asked to call Sadies Stray Dog Rescue on 07764 788 811.
