January 2011. As it began to grow dark, Tom Watkins’ hope that he’d find Cody, a two-year-old part-collie, began to fade with the light. He and his team had already spent hours searching. And then... in the mud of Bourne Woods in Frensham, Surrey, Tom spotted a paw print. Soon after, using torchlight to see through the rain and gloom, one of the team spotted Cody’s red collar hanging from brambles. Even now, Tom didn’t allow himself to get too optimistic. He’d put up several ‘Missing’ posters featuring Cody, but knew from experience that dogs are trickier to find than cats: ‘A missing cat (if they haven’t had an accident or been locked in a shed) will probably gravitate towards shelter, food and water or may just have found someone else to feed it,’ he says. ‘But a lost dog will run frantically, aimlessly, in search of its owner.’

But on this particular night, while Tom was still searching for a glimpse of Cody’s black and white coat, the phone in his high-vis search jacket started ringing. Someone had spotted one of the posters, just minutes before arriving home to find a dog matching Cody’s description in the front garden, and had rung to report the discovery. Within the hour, Tom was there for the emotional reunion between Cody and his owners.