A man whose car was stolen with his beloved pet dog inside has been reunited with the loyal labrador thanks to some good police work and the magic of social media.
When John Davidson pulled into a Petone supermarket car park in his old Toyota last month, his ageing chocolate labrador Josie was sat beside him. Planning to be in the shop for less than five minutes, he left the car unlocked thinking his 18-year-old vehicle wasn’t worth much to anyone and that Josie would scare anyone off.
But when he returned, his car was gone and so was Josie.
As soon as she went missing, John’s friends contacted the Mainly Dogs Facebook page - which is managed and moderated by Rob Neil from the Royal New Zealand Police College - to share Josie’s story and ask for help finding her.
“Mainly Dogs’ original post reached more than 250,000 people and was shared directly more than 1800 times," says Rob.
"Such is the power of social media, that even people in the UK and the USA were looking out for Josie without realising the post originated on the other side of the world, which was amazing."
Many witnesses were now on the lookout for Josie and several phoned police with sightings of a dog fitting her description, from Wainuiomata all the way to Levin.
A few days after Josie disappeared, Constables Connor Speirs and Tavis Smith were patrolling central Wellington on a night shift when they saw a man driving a white Suzuki erratically in the city centre near Te Aro Park. So they pulled him over.
The man was a disqualified driver, the vehicle was stolen and in the car with him was Josie, the stolen labrador!
Josie was unharmed and both officers were pleased to have found her safe and sound.
“It was just nice to see how happy Josie and her family were when they were finally reunited," says Tavis. "It’s definitely one of the better aspects of policing and it’s what makes policing a very rewarding career.
“We were both just glad to have been a part of Josie’s return to her whānau."
Police would like to thank everyone who phoned in sightings of Josie and are also grateful to everyone who shared Josie’s post on social media last month - all of which helped in her return.
The man responsible for her theft was arrested and will appear before the courts on a variety of charges.