SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Charlie Barnes first got known on the Leigh’s Lost and Found page when he helped track down a german shepherd named Boe who took off after being involved in a car accident.
Since then, he’s helped many other families too, thanks to his specially trained dog Sabii.
Charlie tells us, “he’s an Australian Kelpie so he’s very agile and they can go up and around and over and through. He’s found 36 pets successfully alive and then half as many deceased. But that gives closure. What happens, when he finds something, he’ll come bump me on the leg.”
Charlie does contract work in hurricane zones and says Sabii was initially trained to find people but showed more interest in finding pets. He is a certified tracking dog, meaning he gets a scent off a missing animal’s toy or bedding and then tracks it.
He helped find the lost German Shepherd Boe after two weeks. Sabii and Charlie also recently tracked down a little dog named Izzy who got out while her family was out of town and were frantic to find her. The duo also helped successfully track a missing dog named Rosie.
Charlie says, “she’s a little dog and older. She went a block down and crossed the road and came back to an intersection. She didn’t have a collar on and that’s where the trail ends. I came at it from three different directions and each time it did the ended at the same place. I’m 100 percent certain she was picked up.”
She was, and the finder saw the posts and got Rosie reunited. Charlie doesn’t charge for this service and says he just wants to help his community.
“It’s the most wonderful thing ever. When your hear the little dog squealing in happiness and the owners are just tearing up. It’s such an emotional thing because you’re worried you’re never going to see them again.”
If you need to get in touch with Charlie, his number is 804-629-4885.
Dogs are now part of our famlies.”To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com
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