Searching for Bolita
Desperate search continues for beloved elderly pet who escaped from boarding kennels between Pinoso and Yecla
LORENZO and his partner Jo are the distraught owners of Bolita, a black nine-year-old female dog, who went missing from boarding kennels, while the couple were away over Christmas visiting relatives.
The last time they saw Bolita was on December 22 when they left her at The Doggie Hotel, located off the road between Yecla and Pinoso, together with their three other dogs. Bolita had already stayed a few times at the fully licensed kennels run by expats Jacquie and Vince without a problem.
Lorenzo told CBN that he received a call on the morning of Friday, December 28, to say that Bolita had escaped. Late that same night, the couple flew home and the next morning they went to the kennels, desperately hoping that Bolita had been found.
Here they were told that she had escaped within five minutes when out for exercise through a small drainage channel, and although they had immediately gone out looking for her, she was nowhere to be seen.
Bolita is a small dog weighing around 4 kilos and is approximately 10 inches tall, she is black with evident signs of aging with plenty of white hair on her face and legs, and she has a longish body. She is also microchipped.
Lorenzo bottle-fed her when she was a puppy and is very much attached to her, she is not just a dog, she is family.
It makes no sense to her owners or to the Jacquie and Vince, that Bolita would escape from her own doggy family, as they were very much a tightly knit pack, although Jacquie thinks that she could have gone after rabbit or a mouse, as the surrounding area is farmland with plenty of small wildlife.
Since their return Lorenzo and Jo have not stopped searching for Bolita, posters have been shared on social media, a drone was used and they put up a €500 reward for Bolita's safe return. A friend has doubled this, so the reward now stands at €1000.
So far, no sightings of Bolita have been reported at all.
CBN also spoke to Jacquie from the Doggie Hotel, who is very upset about Bolita's disappearance.
In the years she and her partner have run kennels back in the UK and more recently here in Spain, they have never had a dog escape and for Bolita to go missing is a nightmare for them.
Jacquie explained that their kennels have secure perimeter fencing, which is buried deep into concrete so dogs cannot get out, but there are small drainage holes for the heavy rainfall that can suddenly occur in Spain to be able to drain away. These holes are now blocked by removable bricks.
She also said it was unfortunate that she was not informed that Bolita had escaped through small holes before, although those times she had not strayed far, as she would have not been left out of sight in the fenced exercise area.
She said they have not stopped looking for Bolita since she disappeared; workers on the surrounding farms are also all looking out for Bolita as they go out on their tractors or work the land.
She and Vince sincerely hope that she will be found soon.
All the vets and shelters in the area have been informed, and Jo has set up a Facebook page with photos and videos of Bolita, called 'Searching for Bolita'.
Unfortunately all communication between the two parties has now broken down completely.
Jacquie has had to close her personal and business Facebook pages due to upsetting threats from what she described as ‘keyboard warriors’, in some cases they were people who lived abroad, and Lorenzo, understandably, has reported the kennels to the Guardia Civil for losing his dog.
Meanwhile Jacquie's lawyer advised that any further communication with Bolita's owner should be through him.
But without doubt, what everybody wants is for Bolita to be found, so if anybody has any information or sightings please go to the Facebook page Searching for Bolita - where there is contact information, so she can get back home to her family where she belongs.
As she has been reported missing to authorities, the microchip registry should be on alert, so if she is taken into any vet or police station, the owners will be notified.