Residents of Summer Hill in Sydney‘s Inner West are desperately searching for a cat and a dog who may have gone without food or water for several days, after their petsitter suffered a stroke and is now unable to remember their house is.
The man, reportedly known has Tim, was on his way to look after the animals sometime earlier than December 31, 2015 when he suffered a stroke and was taken to hospital, where he is now safe. A Facebook-organised, community-lead effort to find the animals is now underway, after his son Sean discovered his dad was pet-sitting.
Volunteers are hindered by Tim’s memory impairment as a result of the stroke; they’re going in blind as to the breeds, colours, names, or sizes of the cat and dog, and attempts to find the address or owner’s contact details – i.e. searching Tim’s home, car, clothes pockets, phone records, keys, etc. – have all proven unsuccessful.
Locals initially thought they were searching in the Summer Hill area, but it is now thought Tim was walking up Sloane St into Haberfield.
The owners are believed to be on the south coast of New South Wales, so volunteers are asking anyone who has friends, friends of friends, family, workmates etc who may have gone on holiday down the south coast and left their pets in the care of an elderly gentlemen to get in contact with Summer Hill Vets.
Summer Hill Vets: website or phone (02) 9797 2555.
Facebook group: Summer Hill Pet Search Alert.
Interactive map of search efforts: HERE.
Photo: Josiah Kamau / Getty. This image is not of the lost dog in question.
