Leintwardine animal lover has lost pet brainwave (From Hereford Times)

Leintwardine animal lover has lost pet brainwave

8:30am Wednesday 15th June 2011 in Features By Paul Ferguson

A TRADER could be onto something big after sniffing out a missing pet with his four-legged friend.

Andre Marsh wants to launch a “budget pet detective”

that uses trained dogs to find missing animals and family pets.

The 32-year-old, who lives near Leintwardine, is investigating how dogs can be trained to track the scents of other creatures.

Tests are going well and his German shepherd, Max, has already traced two missing dogs near Worcester and Shrewsbury.

Mr Marsh launched the Missing Animal Search Dog Association (MASDA) last year in the hope of getting other dogs on the case.

He wants the service to help poorer families but is struggling to raise the £5,000 to make MASDA a registered charity.

“We thought if a dog can follow a human track then surely it can track other animals?”

said Mr Marsh.

“We’re aiming to become a registered charity to provide a service to people who can’t afford a private detective for missing pets.”

Max has potential and sniffed out a missing sheepdog with Credenhill’s Animal Search UK on a joint mission by the M5 in May.

He also showed promise last December when he correctly picked up the trail of another lost dog on the south Shropshire hills.

Mr Marsh says German shepherds are ideal search dogs for their intelligence but training takes around a year and isn’t cheap.

He raises funds by selling local crafts at the Little Shop on Leominster High Street, but he’s always hunting for more help.

“We’re trying to get it off the ground and we’ve got the shop but it’s quite difficult in the current climate,” said Mr Marsh.