Jester’s Law and Harvey’s Law working together.

 

 

 

Have you ever wondered what happens to deceased dogs collected by local authorities and the Highways Agency?

 Many of you will remember Jesters Law, started by Nikki Reay in 2005 when her beloved dog Jester was cremated within 30 minutes of the HA retrieving his body.  Due to Nikki’s determination and campaign she managed to ensure Area Management Memo 67/05 which was introduced into the HA Procedures. Since then all HA vehicles have carried scanners and have set procedures to follow when collecting a domestic pets body from the Highways.  

The campaign is now joined by Harvey’s Law who have wonderful support. Harvey had been killed on the M62 soon after he escaped but his family searched for 13 weeks before they found out Harvey’s fate! A Highways Agency patrol officer who saw a poster remembered receiving the call that night after a driver reported hitting an animal. The family had contacted the highways agency on many occasions over the previous weeks and were told every time that no dogs fatalities had occurred in the area. HA procedures state that a description of the dog should be recorded and this should be passed to the local police and dog warden. Again a directive from Defra is needed.

We are proud to support both in this quest to support pet owner’s, again this is something all pet owners believe is already being done!

THIS IS HARVEY AND HERE IS HIS STORY:-

Facebook Page called Find Harvey.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FINDHARVEY/?fref=ts

Harvey escaped 23rd November 2013 and 20 minutes later it is believed he was killed tragically on the Motorway. His owners had a Facebook page up and running with over 5,000 members, they had posters, banners and people on the ground searching for him. Harvey’s  story at the time was also put into the local papers. His owners were in constant contact with Highways, Dog Wardens, and all the other relevant sites and departments in search of him, and each time they had the same response no reports of a dog matching Harvey’s description. Yet 13 weeks yes 13 weeks later they were informed by Highways a dog matching his description was killed on the Motorway, yet it has not been confirmed it was him as they have disposed of his body.

We hope that you could take up this story and our petition to STOP this happening again.

Please support Harvey’s Law and sign the petition:- http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62490

 There are still many unanswered questions. There are also changes needing to be made within the Highways Agency so that this does not happen again to any other owner of a missing dog. The not knowing for sure is the worst thing…

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME OR THE LAST!

 

THIS IS JESTER AND HERE IS HIS STORY:-

 Nikki Reay began campaigning for a change to the law in 2005 after the death of her dog Jester. Please read her story…

Jester’s Law was started to ensure that the bodies of dogs that have been run over are checked for all forms of identification (including microchipping and tattooing). This has now been incorporated into a nationwide policy by the Highways Agency.

Sadly, it was confirmed that Nikki Reay’s beloved dog Jester (for whom this campaign is named) was killed on the A1 in May 2005. The laws regarding the collection and disposal of deceased dogs meant that Nikki spent months never knowing if Jester was truly dead. Please support Nikki in this campaign to change the law.

 

In Memory Of Jester

On Tuesday morning (24th May 2005) I walked Jester my 3 year old rescued Rotweiller in Twyford Woods,when he casually bounced into the undergrowth and disappeared. He always did this and then bounced right back to me. This time he didn’t & there was no noise of snapping twigs, no barking, no startled deer hooves, and no undergrowth movement. He was gone. I called & called for about 20 – 30 minutes in that spot believing that he would track back to me but there was nothing. I carried on calling constantly, I just couldn’t understand it.

I went around the entire woods twice more then went back to the car to get his water bowl hitting the bowl and calling him. The wind was coming from the direction of the A1 and several walkers said they heard me quite a way in. I came back to the car again and sat on the roof calling & still hitting the bowl – nothing. I drove down to the lorry park, the truckstop cafe and service station asking everyone to keep an eye out. I went across the roundabout to the police station. I gave details to an officer who said he would look around. A young lad who was working on his car offered to help me and I returned to my car.

The lad, Leonard, soon shouted he’d found him – but he was dead! I followed his car to the spot and saw blood and tyre skid marks – but no body. It had gone. Within 5 -10 minutes of Leonard spotting him and me getting there- the body had been removed.

To cut a very long tale short, I contacted councils, police, dog wardens, and vets to find out what had happened to the deceased dog. I finally found out that Highway Services were responsible for collecting debris. I rang them and sure enough they confirmed that they had picked up a dog but there was no collar. My dog was wearing a big black leather half check collar. He said that it had not been scanned and had already been incinerated! After further investigation I learned that the deceased dog had been PROCESSED ALONG WITH THREE BADGERS! Being shocked I asked for the ashes and was told there were none. I asked about any distinguishing marks and was told they couldn’t give me a description and that they do not have scanners or facilities to store deceased animals awaiting collection by their owners. I discovered that this company is licensed by the government to incinerate animal waste, and that they also render & process waste for bone meal. It makes me feel sick to my soul that Jester could be sprinkled on someone’s garden and not cremated by me and given a dignified end.

The shock of losing Jester was one thing, but not having a body, a collar or ashes is very hard to live with. My biggest frustration is that these people are collecting pets nationwide and PROCESSING them without the owners’ knowledge. If we as owners have to identify our dogs by law, why on earth isn’t there legislation to make sure that deceased pets are scanned for microchips and held for at least for 24 hours before being INCINERATED, not PROCESSED?

I am calling for a change in the law – this must stop!