By NICOLE WILLIAMS
WHEN Milo discovered his friend Hunter had been hit by a car, the loyal pup stayed by his side until he was reunited with his worried owners on New Year’s Day.
The two dogs escaped from Maree Evans’ Nar Nar Goon property on New Year’s Eve, thought to have been spooked by fireworks – and one never returned home.
“One of them got hit and killed and somebody found our other dog sitting with the dead dog,” she said.
The family rallied the following morning when they returned to find both dogs missing.
Posters and a Facebook campaign alerted people to the cause and soon the family received the news.
“It didn’t take long for people to contact us. Somebody noticed there was a dog killed up the road and let us know and luckily someone had picked up Milo from the side of the road,” she said.
“It was nice that other people looked after him and brought him back to us.”
Ms Evans said Hunter, the dog which was killed, was owned by her pregnant daughter Prue who was very distressed by the news.
“She is very pregnant and very hysterical,” Ms Evans said.
“It was hard because she was so upset and it could have brought on early labour.”
Ms Evans said it was important that people advised their neighbours if they intended to use fireworks or crackers.
“We are shattered because if they had let us know there were going to be fireworks, we wouldn’t have left the dogs out that night,” she said.
“It was a shame because people are trying to have a bit of fun and it turned out bad for us.”
“We knew they got frightened but we didn’t know it was going to happen. We heard from neighbours that it (the fireworks) was very loud and it kept going for a while. It wasn’t just your little bang.”
Ms Evans said people with fireworks needed to be aware of the consequences.
“We’re happy for people to have a bit of fun,” she said.
“People should just be aware that there are dogs frightened by fireworks and particularly on New Year’s Eve when people are out and about and not home. They have got to think who else it affects.”
