The owner of missing dog Spikey Haggis has spoken of a “rollercoaster ride of emotions” on discovering his pet’s remains in scrubland after three months of searching.
Colin Manson, owner of Kman Vets, told the Cayman Compass that he had “mixed feelings, including frustration, despair, anger and loss. There’s something comforting about knowing where he is, then there’s relief, and then guilt at the relief. All it does is bring back a whole bunch of memories of how much we miss him.”
Rescue dog Spikey had gone missing from a doggy daycare in Red Bay on 13 Nov., and since then, Manson had left no stone unturned in the search for Spikey, including using a sniffer dog and a heat-seeking drone, and offering a $10,000 reward for information.
After three months of searching and hoping, the remains of the cherished pet dog Spikey were discovered on Sunday, 16 Feb., after his distinctive orange harness was found hanging from a bush on the side of a road in Beach Bay.
“Until then, we’d had no sightings at all,” Manson said, “although we’d investigated everything, even searching mangrove swamps in case he was there.”
Having found the harness, the family conducted door-to-door enquiries of local residents and discovered that the bush had been cut back just before Christmas. Around the same time, one resident recalled seeing an unidentified pile by the side of the road, but hadn’t thought it had anything to do with the missing dog.
From there, it was only a matter of time before Spikey’s remains were discovered, and further proof came from finding his microchip.
While there is a sense of relief that Spikey has been found, there is still the unanswered question of how the little rescue dog came to be there.
“I don’t think he got there under his own steam,” Manson said, “and while he might have been hit by a car, neighbours think that isn’t very likely as it is such a quiet road. We suspect he didn’t get there on his own but his body was dumped in this quiet and secluded area.”
While the family may never know for certain what happened, they have been comforted by the enormous public response since Spikey went missing.
“People have been incredible in helping us look for Spikey and for letting us know they were thinking of us,” Manson said. “There was a huge outpouring of Caymankind; everyone has been so caring.”
The family is now focusing on remembering the joy that Spikey bought to their lives.
“His favourite thing was to go swimming,” Manson recalled. “He was this crazy little thing who would swim faster than anyone else. He would climb onto my shoulders and jump off them into the water, and if you threw his favourite toy, he would go off after it like a bullet. He was just adorable. He brought joy to everyone he touched. He was a smashing little chap.”
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