A hard dog to catch
Geelong greyhound trainer George Dailly has been reunited with dog Lektra Ottens, who went missing for 10 days after the pair were involved in a car crash at Nhill
RUNAWAY greyhound Lektra Ottens was bred for speed, but the finish of the slowest 500m of his life has brought the biggest smiles.
After a 10-day search around Nhill, the fawn dog was f ound on Monday a 30- second greyhound dash from where he bolted.
He was one of 14 dogs in a ute-towed trailer that ploughed into a farmhouse after running off the Western Highway at 3.45am last Friday week.
Trainer George Dailly, asleep in the ute’s cabin, broke three ribs, as did
‘When he saw me he started wagging his tail, happy as Larry’
– Trainer GEORGE DAILLY
his brother-in-law, who was driving. One dog died, a dozen escaped serious injury, but Lektra Ottens escaped.
After more media coverage, sightings came from near and far.
‘‘There were unconfirmed reports of a fawn dog running down the main street of Dimboola (25km away),’’ Lektra Ottens’ owner and breeder, Phil Lenehan, said.
Greyhound breeder Andrea Gurry put out a call on CFA radio, tipping off the town pubs.
After a 95- year- old farmer reported the dog was turning up for a feed at his farm at Kiata, near Nhill, a search party was raised, but missed the mutt.
Mr Lenehan and Mr Dailly’s brother, Tom, independently took off for a last-ditch hunt.
‘‘ An old bloke was feeding him each night about five o’clock,’’ Mr Dailly said yesterday.
‘‘The bloke said, ‘I’ll show you where he was laying’. There the dog was. He would have heard me calling. When he saw me he started wagging his tail, happy as Larry.’’
The greyhound was across the highway from the crash scene, coat gleaming, but a few kilos lighter for the experience.
‘‘It was a fantastic effort from the people from Nhill,’’ Mr Lenehan said.
Home in his kennel with the Daillys at Anakie, Lektra Ottens could be back on track within weeks.
On recent form he’ll take some catching.