Virginia was distraught once she realised someone had driven off with her dog in her car, but this feeling turned to shock when she received a call on her landline the following morning from a man she believed to be the criminal responsible.
The Avalon local had finished visiting a friend at Whale Beach and decided to pop into Palm Beach Wine Co. last week, Sunday, 19 January. Being a long-time local of the area, Virginia didn’t think twice about leaving her keys in the ignition and Kelpie crossed Border Collie, Amico, in her Hilux Dual Cab – a decision she will warn others not to repeat.
Ten minutes later, she returned to her car. Unfortunately by this time, it was too late.
“One of the people in the shop said, Oh, look, there’s a ute down the road. Somebody’s moved it for you, and so I walked down, it wasn’t my ute, and I realised what had happened,” Virginia retold to Manly Observer.
“Then the girls in the shop said, Oh, we saw him. He did a U-ie, and then he sped off towards Mona Vale.”
Police were immediately called, but no car and no dog were found, leaving Virginia in angst, until she received a strange phone call the following morning.
“A man had rung me that morning on my landline, which no one rings, and he said, there’s a black dog jumping in and out of a car and it’s in Nolan Reserve, Manly. He sounded quite weird. And I said, well, how did you come across the dog? He said, I’m playing cricket, and hung up,” she said.
Virginia quickly suspected this to be the criminal responsible as her landline number is located on a sticker on the inside of her mobile cover case, which was also in her car at the time of the theft and is still missing.
Shortly after the call, a friend gave her a lift to the park where they found the vehicle “very thoughtfully” parked under a tree, but disappointingly, with no dog in sight.
By the next morning, Amico had been MIA for almost two days. This is when rescuer Annie Johnson entered the scene when she spotted a struggling tradie attempting to catch a black Kelpie crossed Border Collie running around Oliver Street, Freshwater.
“I just pulled into the car park and asked the guy, is that your dog? And he was like, No, I’ve been trying to catch it running up and down the street,” Annie recalled.
The social worker managed to nab the pup.
“He looked visibly exhausted. He was panting and very salivary. He was super scared. His tail was between his legs, bless. Though be it, he did jump literally straight into my car as soon as I opened my door. So he was happy to come with me.”
Annie relieved the Tradie of his dog-catching duties and volunteered to take an over-stimulated Amico, who had been everywhere but his home for days, to Harbord Vet. After discovering just how far the misplaced mutt was from said home she decided to post on Facebook group Avalon What’s On to see if anyone was missing their pooch.
She then continued her commute to work, only to find a cluster of notifications on her phone on arrival.
“I just figured that someone might recognise him, so I posted a photo of him in my car, and then drove the 40 minutes to work, and by the time I got to work when I opened Facebook, I had probably 40 comments and so many likes on this photo. And I was like, Oh my God, what’s happened?” Annie said.
Turns out, a photo had already been posted of Amico on the page the previous day by Virginia’s friend asking locals to look out for the dog.
Annie then called the vet with the information and Virginia was soon reunited with her best pal.
“He’s never allowed to lick my face, but I just ignored that,” Virginia laughed.
Virginia called Annie after to provide a well-deserved thank you and also asked a few questions regarding the whereabouts and state of Amico.
Unfortunately, in a similar fashion, this curious case has provided more questions than answers.
Police took Virginia’s car to be fingerprinted and forensically examined, to no avail. They also inspected CCTV footage taken of the suspect from the local Palm Beach wine store but were unable to provide Manly Observer with a description.
And of course, there’s the itching inconclusion of who actually delivered the landline call to Virginia: a courteous cricketer, as stated on the phone, or rather a ‘considerate criminal’ who would steal a car, but draws the line at dognapping.
Regardless, Virginia has some sound advice for people to avoid the predicament she found herself in.
“Don’t leave your keys in a flipping car!”
