Edinburgh missing dog: Straiton and Hillend residents search for missing whippet with drone

Residents from Straiton and Hillend continue to search for a six-year-old whippet who went missing last week. Tabby, a grey and white whippet, was last seen on Saturday (February 4) at 8.20pm near the Esso garage on Biggar Road running towards Old Pentland Road.

Over the weekend, teams of residents and dog experts have been searching neighbouring fields beside the petrol garage with volunteers from Drone SAR (Search and Rescue) assisting in a wider search of the Straiton and Hillend area.

Tabby’s owner, Kuok, said: “I got five calls on Saturday evening to say Tabby was running outside the Esso garage running towards Straiton and we think she will still be in the area.”

Kuok said Tabby escaped from her flat when a courier dropped off a package on Thursday, February 2, and travelled three and a half miles from Lang Loan in Straiton to the Hillend area. She said her beloved pet will be very nervous and unfamiliar with her surroundings, having only moved to Scotland from Hong Kong last week.

Kuok, who has searched every day and night for her beloved pet, said: “I’ve been out the whole time so I haven’t really been at home apart from getting food or taking a shower. On Saturday evening I stayed out until 10am on Sunday.”

But the devastated dog owner has been supported by local residents in her search to find Tabby with experienced dog rescuers joining the cause, setting up ‘feed and scent stations’ in an attempt to keep Tabby in the local area.

‘Hopefully she keeps off the city bypass’

Local resident, William Sturgeon, who volunteers for UK wide organisation Drone SAR For Lost Dogs joined other group members over the weekend to look for the lost pup. Mr Sturgeon said: “The owners are generally quite lost and scared so sometimes it helps to have other people there who have experience and know exactly how to go about it – it’s a relief for the owners for sure.”

Mr Sturgeon, who has been a drone pilot for the organisation for several years said they will continue their search this week using cutting edge technology.

He said: “Dogs will naturally look for somewhere to hunker down for the night so with a drone you get an aerial view allowing you to direct the ground search teams. You do occasionally see dogs from the sky but usually it is about eliminating areas.”

He said: “We’ll be back out tonight with the night vision and thermal goggles and tomorrow during lunch there will be another drone search. We need another sighting, she hasn’t been seen for a couple of days so we don’t know if she’s in the area or has moved away.”

Hazel Elliot from Muzzle Mutts, a specialist in finding lost dogs has also tried to reunite Tabby with her owner, joining Kuok on Saturday evening with a thermal scope that covers 3000 metres. Ms Elliot said: “Hopefully she keeps off the city bypass because she’s had a horrific experience. If you see her record the time, direction of travel and call the owner.”

The public are urged not to chase Tabby as this could force her to travel even further. If you see Tabby you can contact the police on 101 or call Kuok directly on 07549495276.