Couple hire expensive pet detective after dog is killed

Colin Butcher has been hired by Bournemouth couple Ian Clague, 62, and Dominika Sojka, 34, to bring justice for their designer dog Bijoux.

The nine-month-old chow chow husky cross, or Chowsky, was found fatally injured by the side of a road after escaping from its owner's £1m Bournemouth home.

A mystery motorist stopped and picked up the black and grey dog and took it to a vets 10 miles away.

The couple with their dog on holiday (Image: BNPS)

Bijoux was struck by a car in Talbot Avenue (Image: BNPS)

Mr Clague, a businessman who owns and runs an engineering company, and Miss Sojka have urged the police to investigate the 'hit and run' but it hasn't led to anything so far.

The couple have been forced to spend £2,250 on hiring the professional pet detective, who has also made a three minute Crimewatch-style video appealing for witnesses and posters have also gone up around Talbot Woods.

The time and date of the incident was approximately 10pm on June 29, shortly after the dog escaped through a gap in their back garden in Glenferness Avenue.

So far Mr Butcher has found a witness who saw the aftermath of the collision, claiming a white or silver car stopped close to a pedestrian crossing in Talbot Avenue.

The witness has reported hearing a dog howling outside her home and she rushed out to find a smartly-dressed couple stood in the road looking down at the ground in front of their car.

Professional pet detective Colin Butcher (Image: BNPS)

Miss Sojka, a private jet broker, said: "Not knowing what happened to Bijoux is haunting me.

"Was the man who took her to the vets the person who hit her.

"I just want answers. Did she suffer? Did she die peacefully? Was she in pain? I want them to tell me how Bijoux spent the last minutes of her life so I can have some closure.

"I just want them to call me and share that information. Until I know what happened I will spend every night wondering.

"I am not blaming them for what happened but them not coming forward has meant we have had to hire someone to investigate it. It is costing a lot of money.

"The man who took Bijoux to the vets left their details but the vets can't share them with us because of data protection laws. They can only give them to the police. We have asked the police to investigate and speak to this man. They are looking into the case."

The couple brought in the UKPD (Image: BNPS)

Mr Clague and Miss Sojka, who are engaged, paid a dog breeder £2,000 for Bijoux when she was 10-weeks-old.

The couple have also paid a pet cloning company to take samples of Bijoux's DNA so they can clone her and create an almost identical dog.

Mr Butcher, who has been recovering stolen and missing pets for 30 years, said: "We got our dog Molly to follow Bijoux's harness's scent which took us down the path to the main road.

"We believe Bijoux was chasing a fox down the path to Talbot Avenue and they were both struck by a car at the same time.

"Bijoux's family are asking for help in discovering whether this is a tragic accident.

"It is really important we help give the owners closure at what is a very difficult time for them."