- Coonhound Ruth slipped her collar when her handler was about to go to Crufts
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A dog who went missing before heading to the Crufts show ring on Sunday was found five miles away – after a two-day search with a drone.
Coonhound Ruth slipped her collar at a hotel near Birmingham’s National Exhibition Center online as her handler was about to lead her to the venue.
Searchers were given permission to launch a drone by air traffic control at nearby Birmingham Airport, and the plane eventually tracked the dog to an area of green space in the Bordesley Green suburb on Tuesday.
They posted a video of the moment Ruth recognized and ran to owner Krizia Buso when the pair were reunited on Tuesday.
Ruth had flown from her home in Italy with her handler. Mrs Buso only realized her dog was missing when she landed in the UK on a later flight.
A dog who went missing before heading to the Crufts show ring on Sunday was found five miles away – after a two-day search with a drone
Jacqui Whitworth, from Stourbridge, helped search for Ruth and said a large number of people came forward to help.
One man had volunteers camp outside his house, bring them tea and coffee and let them use his facilities.
Eventually a phone call came and Mrs Whitworth discovered that Ruth had been seen in a pub close to where she had previously been seen.
Thousands of people followed online posts charting the progress of the searches.
Coonhound Ruth slipped her collar at a hotel near Birmingham’s National Exhibition Center online as her handler was about to lead her to the venue
A screenshot from the video of Ruth recognizing and running to owner Krizia Buso as the pair reunited on Tuesday
“(With) the number of people helping us, my phone was absolutely ringing and ringing,” Whitworth told BBC Radio WM.
‘I spoke to people who said I have to go (because I had) another call.
You can actually see in that video that Ruth is moving towards Ruth and you can actually see the second she thought ‘you’re my mother’ and just rushed to her,” Ms Whitworth added.
Ruth and her owner were taken to Heathrow Airport by a taxi driver after they were reunited and are now back in Italy.
Around 24,000 dogs take part in Crufts, where they are judged in competitions on their agility, behavior and appearance.
A coonhound is an American type of hunting dog developed for hunting raccoons.