Hunt to find autistic man’s stolen dog

A man with autism was last night trying to cope with the loss of a constant companion who has been missing since Sunday.

Gardaí in Co Limerick are trying to track down a thief who they suspect stole ‘Toby’, a dog trained to be at Peter Meskell’s side.

The three-year-old cross between a Bernese Mountain dog and a beagle, went missing from the Meskell family home in Castleconnell around 8pm on Sunday.

After undergoing training costing €15,000 at the Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland centre in Mallow, Co Cork, Toby, was sent to live with the 21-year-old, for whom he was a very important and constant friend.

Peter’s mother Nicola Meskell said: “Toby has been with Peter constantly since he joined the family, over a year ago. He is very close to Peter and is a beautifully natured dog and lovely with children. He is more like a member of the family than a dog. Toby is great with Peter and when Peter is lying down watching TV, Toby leans against him.

“Recently, Toby was diagnosed with a serious veterinary condition for which we have to give him steroid pain killers, to control the pain he suffers. This is compounding our concern as he needs this medication to control the pain.”

She said he may have been taken by people out duck shooting as the season commenced at the weekend.

“We are all very upset as Toby was such an important part of our family and Peter was especially close to him and loved giving him cuddles. With Peter everything makes a difference in his life and Toby did make a difference. If Peter could have got him when he was younger it would have been wonderful, but he had him for over a year and it has been great.”

Liam Linehan of Autistic Assistance Dogs Ireland said it took two years to train Toby. “We have placed 32 dogs with families over the past four years. Toby was great with Peter. He has very a very striking appearance and very placid.”