A GUIDE dog was recovered four hours after it went missing in Nanshan District on Monday.

    The dog, named Oscar, was having a walk with its owner, Yao Chuanxi, in Zhongshan Park when it was scared by an estrous female dog and ran out of Yao’s hearing range. Yao called the police after searching in vain for more than 10 minutes.

    Surveillance camera footage showed that Oscar had run in the direction of Shennan Boulevard before leaving the coverage of surveillance cameras.

    Feeling helpless, Yao posted a notice on his WeChat Moments, which spread quickly to other WeChat Moments. At around noon Monday, a dog lover called Yao and told him that he had found the dog near Nantou Primary School.

    Yao, a piano tuner, said that he was touched by the help he received from the police and enthusiastic netizens. “It seemed the news had been spread across the city and many netizens volunteered to help find Oscar,” he said. “I even received a call from as far as Beijing.”

    Oscar is a 3-year-old labrador retriever. It “graduated” from a guide dog training base in Dalian in August last year and is the first and only “professional” guide dog in Shenzhen, according to sznews.com. It started to guide Yao seven months ago.

    Guide dogs, also known as “seeing eye dogs,” are assistance dogs trained to lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles. They have a good disposition and can stand up, help a blind person get onboard a vehicle, and pass objects.

    People are advised against feeding, touching or calling a working guide dog and to offer help only when necessary.

    (SD News)