Harvey was a beautiful 3 year old phantom miniature poodle. Harvey was both chipped and tagged.

On 23rd November 2013 Harvey remained at a friend’s house in Merseyside whilst his owners had a rare and special night out. At 10pm he bolted through the open front door as a pizza delivery arrived, something he would never normally do. He ran like lightning in the direction of his Sheffield home.

A massive search followed. A Facebook group was set up which attracted nearly 6000 members (Harvey’s Army), 70 000 leaflets were hand-delivered, newspaper articles were written and adverts posted. A local taxi company doubled the reward money and banners were put up all over the area. People came long distances to help with searches and a field team was set up to monitor cameras and feeding stations. The campaign escalated over 13 exhausting weeks. We were heartbroken and frantic, but determined not to give up.

The search was all in vain. Harvey had been killed on the M62 soon after he escaped. A Highways Agency patrol officer who saw a poster remembered receiving the call that night after a driver reported hitting an animal. Though we had contacted the highways agency on many occasions over the previous weeks, we were told every time that no dogs fatalities had occurred in the area.

HA procedures state that a description of the dog should be recorded and this should be passed to the local police and dog warden. The HA log says ‘poodle type’ dog. This information was not passed on. We were in regular contact with the police and local dog wardens during the whole search. We were told on the phone by a Highways Agency worker that the body of the poodle type dog they found had been cremated in early December. Although there is plenty of evidence that this must be Harvey, we will never know for certain, and his owner's were never given the chance to identify or reclaim his body.

The procedures, staff and resources have been there since 2005 after Nikki Reay's beloved dog Jester was cremated within 30 minutes of the HA retrieving his body. Due to Nikki's determination and campaign she managed to ensure Area Management Memo 67/05 was introduced into the HA Procedures. Since then all HA vehicles have carried scanners and have set procedures to follow when collecting a domestic pets body from the Highways.

We just want those procedures to be followed by making them the law.

Harvey’s Army is now a Registered Charity (No 1157650). Harvey has not died in vain and will live on forever through our work. We have microchip scanners and a team of fantastic volunteers who will scan found and deceased pets at anytime including outside the hours of availability for vets and animal wardens. We want to reunite owners with their pets as soon as possible whether or not that pet is found dead or alive.  We have and are contuinuing to support other rescues , pets and owners.  Any donations we receive go directly to the Harvey's Army Charity and are used in many ways - paying for urgent medical treatment that owners cannot otherwise afford, paying towards veterinary care for rescued animals, helping with searching/leafleting for lost pets, making donations towards rescue centres at a time of need, providing scanners so found pets can be re united with owners,contributing towards release/rehoming fees and many many more ways. 

You may ask why Rainhill to Halifax - well that's easy to explain as sadly this journey began in Rainhill and I wanted to show you how far we have come - we have gained charity status and that is based in Halifax....... x

We will continue to make a difference in Harvey's memory - this is the legacy he has left us x

Please sign - http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62490

Thank you. x

Harvey's Law Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Harveys-Law/14641929204988