Harry spotted in Bethlehem

Harry's owner Sharon Robertson with Ben and Gucci and two large cat traps supplied by Julia Graham of the Western Bay Wildlife Trust which are being used to help catch Harry. Supplied Photo.

It was the phone call Sharon and Gary Robertson have been hoping for - someone in Tauranga had spotted their Shitzu cross Harry which has been missing for five weeks.

On a visit from their home in Cambridge, Harry fled in a panic from a friend's house in Miles Lane when fireworks started going off during an event held at Bethlehem College in September.

Recalling the phone call they received Thursday, Sharon says a man saw a dog running up and down Cambridge Road.

'He tried to grab it and another woman saw it and realised it was Harry so she stopped to try and help him.” But Harry, frightened, ran off down into the Furniss Lane area.

He was then spotted by a woodcutter chopping a tree in the bottom of a gully below Furniss Lane.

Looking up he saw Harry moving along the top of the ridge above him, and the flyers repeatedly dropped by the family into mailboxes throughout the area over the last few weeks helped with the instant realisation that this was Harry.

Another phone call to Sharon who was on her way to Tauranga with her other dog Ben, and her daughter Jackie Murray with her dog Gucci. Gary joined them later in the day as they searched the lane and surrounding area.

Harry, the missing Shitzu cross. File Photo.

News spread fast over social media and Julia Graham from the Western Bay Wildlife Trust met the family near dusk with two large cat traps and ‘smelly meat'.

The plan was to also put up a drone over the area, but the rain meant this had to wait until morning. Permission was sought from the owners of the properties in Furniss Lane who have been looking out for Harry since he first went missing.

Sharon says if people do spot Harry, please 'don't rush him”.

'If you rush at him, you will scare him off and he will run. You need to get down, crouch down, and talk to him quietly - ‘come on Harry, come here Harry' and if you do that he might come to you. But if you run towards him, he will turn around and bolt, and he is such a fast runner.”

Jackie and her husband Eric Murray, who won Olympic gold at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, bought Harry for Jackie's parents Sharon and Gary Robertson as a Christmas present because Ben, Sharon's dog had been used to having another little dog staying with them while they were living in Sydney.

When they shifted back to New Zealand, they found Ben suffered anxiety when left by himself, so Sharon would take him around to Jackie and Eric's home for ‘Doggy Daycare' while they went to work.

One day Jackie and Eric arrived on their doorstep with Harry as an early Christmas present.

Eric was secretly hoping his parents-in-law would say they didn't want another dog, so they could keep Harry for themselves, but as Sharon said 'we just fell in love with him”, so he stayed. That was July 21, over four years ago, and Harry has become a well-loved member of their family.


Sharon's dog Ben demoing the cat trap. Supplied Photo

The two large cat traps are used by the wildlife trust to catch cats that may be roaming around Mauao, Moturiki Island and other areas where little blue penguins and grey faced petrels and their young could be at risk.

Baited with meat, it draws the cat towards the back of the wire cage, where a spring pad pressed down by the weight of the cat instantly shuts the trap door behind it, catching it live.

Harry, being a small dog, can easily enter these traps, however they will be replaced this morning by larger dog traps.

Julia and the family placed one trap along the ridge line where the woodcutter saw Harry yesterday, and the other trap further on, covering them with some leaves and wood debris.

Sharon wishes to thank the public for their support and help. 'We just can't thank everyone enough. There are so many wonderful kind people out there that have been helping us.”

One of the traps placed along the ridge line where Harry was seen from below by a woodchopper on Thursday afternoon. Supplied Photo.

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1 comment

Fingers Crossed

Posted on 21-10-2016 19:16 | By BennyBenson

I so so hope you guys find him this weekend.


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