Thank you to all who have visited the area where Gyp went missing and to all who are still helping us try to find her.

We have made countless journeys to Holy Island and although we not have any sightings of her we still believe that she could be on the Island and living semi feral. Although the Island is small there are many places where a dog could find both food and fresh water in plentiful supply and keep in constant hiding from humans. We have been touched by the generosity of people giving their time freely to help us, mediums, animal communicators, dowsers, have all helped us in the background. People have visited the Island trying to find just a trace of a dog living wild and now, at this time of year we get messages from people saying they are spending a weekend there and what should they be looking for. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you all and tell you that we will never give up until we have proof of a live or dead dog; without any such proof we will continue with our hope that at sometime we will find a conclusion. We just pray that if she is still alive that she is well and is managing to look after herself. We have decided that her litter sister Mel will stay in the care of the Trust and, for the time being at least, live on with us for Gyp. If anyone has any suggestions or any other path we can go down in our search please contact us as we are willing to try anything.

How you can help us:
Gyp is very distinctive looking with two very blue eyes, prick ears, short coat and tri-coloured and is very nervous. If anyone has found a dog recently fitting the description of Gyp did not have a collar on please take it to a vet to be scanned just in case it is Gyp as we do need to know that she is safe. If you know of anyone in your area who has recently acquired a new dog which fits her description let us know, we only need a glimpse of a dog to know if it is ours as she is so distinctive. If you see any sign of a dog running, or living wild, contact us so we can check it out. We only need one sighting to be able to set wheels in motion to bring her back home.
We thank everyone who has, and still is, helping us to find Gyp.

History
April 2008 Gyp was on short term foster when she went missing on Holy Island (Lindisfarne), Northumberland, on April 7th 2008. The Freedom of Spirit Trust were not notified of her disappearance until April 10th 2008! We have been on the Island and searched the area where she went missing, the dunes and around the village but there was no sign of her.
She is a very timid and nervous dog and will hide rather than go to strangers. Although it is possible that she could have gone on to the mainland we think it unlikely that she would have strayed onto such an open space as the causeway. Gyp had a flexi lead on when she went missing and one of our many concerns is that she could get caught on rocks or in the long grass. We have posters on the Island and the mainland, have notified all relevant organisations and people on the Island are still helping us in the search for her. If anyone is visiting the Island please keep a lookout for her, or if you know of a good scent dog in the area please advise us. If Gyp is still alive and well, and we have no reason as yet to believe otherwise, then we are determined to find her and bring her back to the Trust, but we do need all the help we can get. If anyone does see her, please make a note of the area and contact the Trust as soon as possible.

On May 3rd 2008 we visited Holy Island again to continue in the search for Gyp and to thank everyone on the Island for their help. There was no sign of Gyp and we believe that it is possible that she may have crossed the causeway no longer be on Holy Island. A dog similar to Gyp was sighted running southwards adjacent to the A1 not far from the Holy Island causeway. There has also been a sighting of two people trying to coax a very nervous looking dog on the roadside in a village near the coastline.
Gyp is micro-chipped to the Trust and we have been assured by the people who fostered her that she still has her Trust collar on with the telephone and charity number. We have alerted as many vets as possible asking them to be aware that if a dog fitting her description is brought into their surgery to please scan for a microchip.

June 9th. There has been a sighting of a dog fitting the description of Gyp on the mainland near Middleton, which is just north of Belford, to the west of the A1. This location is not far from Holy Island.
A representative from B.A.R.K.rescue are in the area and the Trust also has a representative in the area searching for any sign of her or a clue to where she may be sleeping. If anyone is visiting or lives in that area please keep a lookout for her but if you see her do not try to catch her as she may panic and change location. make a note of where you saw her, the direction she was going etc. and notify the Trust as soon as possible (emergency number 0771 556 0982). If you think you have seen her and she is staying in one area please try and put some food out for her as it will keep her coming back to the same place and enable us to catch her.

July 2008 The sighting of a collie was not Gyp and Barbara Sykes and Diane Jones returned to Holy Island to continue the search for her. This search was not successful but we do believe that, given her extreme fear of the unknown, that she will have remained on the Island and would be able to survive at least through the summer months. We will continue with our searching and every effort will be made to bring Gyp back to the care of the Trust.

September 15th Barbara, Diane and Len and Janet Horrocks returned to Holy Island for a further search for Gyp. So far, apart from one dog paw print entering a newly dug hole in the dunes, we have no concrete evidence that she is alive and on the Island but knowing how nervous she was we do believe it is possible that she is still there and living semi feral. We believe that the only alternative is if she was injured in the first twenty four hours and while still having a lead attached to her, in which case she would either have passed away or been taken in. Given that she is chipped and had a collar on her with the telephone number of the Trust on it she should have been returned to us. We urge anyone who sees a dog similar to Gyp to try and find out about its background, also if anyone visits the Island to look for signs of a semi wild dog in the dunes. But please do not call for her or try to track her as this will panic her into running again.