28 Apr 2025
Jane Davidson
Job Title
I have recently given up on my true crime podcast habit. Mainly because they’re often glorifying the criminal and not portraying something that families and friends of the victims would be happy with.
It’s a bit of a click-bait trap and my aim for 2025 is to try to not indulge my brain in that habit. But I have always wondered about hosting an alternative type of true crime podcast – and it will be called “Found by dog walker”.
There are so many stories of missing people that would take a lot longer to have resolved if it weren’t for dog walkers. Sadly, it’s often the saddest outcome that the dog (usually the dog rather than the walker) finds and I can only imagine the horror and panic that the dog walker then feels. At the most basic is the question:
What do you do if you are the “found by dog walker” dog walker?
Its probably fairly obvious advice to say not to touch the body or disturb the surrounding area. And that does include keeping the ubiquitous dog away, too – they’ve done their job and need a “good dog” and a treat.
I have used Google to find out what you should do, and surprisingly Google was not giving up any info on this. But I have pieced together a few bits of info that might help and they are from reliable sources.
As a death that is unexpected and the cause of which is unknown, the coroner needs to be notified and this is done by the police. Even if you are 100% certain that the person has died, the police are your first call – they will secure the scene and take care of who you have found, including contacting the coroner.
From the Metropolitan Police website:
“When a body is found which we think is a missing person, we will report it to a coroner.
“A coroner is a special judge who investigates deaths where the cause of death is unknown, unnatural or violent. Their job is to find out who died, and how, when, and where they died.”
I do wonder if some people may call the vets if their dog found a body. I have had similar calls when it’s been deemed an “animal-related emergency” when it really wasn’t. But we do know that we are a trusted source of information, so you may get a call that’s genuinely not for a veterinary opinion but a general “animals doing things” opinion.
