I called in a £4,000 rescue team to search for my late wife’s dog

By ANDY DOLAN

Rod Chivers by the sett where his dog Alfie went missing with his other dog Bobby

His late wife chose their pet from a dogs’ home, so Alfie the mongrel has an extra special place in Rod Chivers’s heart.
Now, with the eight-year-old dog missing, Mr Chivers is leaving no stone unturned in his search. The 68-year-old widower has enlisted the help of search and rescue teams, pet detectives and drainage experts to track down his beloved companion since he disappeared on Saturday.

Heartbroken: Animal lover Rod Chivers, 64, has spent £5000 trying to find his missing pet dog

He was prepared to spend almost £4,000 looking for Alfie, who vanished while exploring a badger sett on one of their twice-daily walks.
Mr Chivers, who runs a recycling and scrap metal business in Rugby, Warwickshire, said: ‘It’s just the not knowing that’s the destroying thing.
‘Of course, it’s my wife’s dog and she died three years ago. It’s my lifeline really. I have to find him.’

Much loved: Eight-year-old Alfie was chosen by Rod Chivers late wife from a dogs' home

Mr Chivers spent hours looking for Alfie after he vanished down a badger sett by a disused railway line. When there was no sign of the black and tan dog, he called in the search and rescue team from West Midlands fire service – expecting to pay £688 an hour. Their monitoring equipment is designed to detect signs of life among the rubble of earthquakes, collapsed buildings, explosions and landslides.
His late wife, Janet, adopted the dog from a rescue centre but died of lung cancer two years later, aged 68.

source: dailymail