Bingo - Brac ‘Dog of the Year’

Bingo, the Brac Dog of the Year, is awarded by the Brac
Humane Society and members of the Pet Cadets.
Standing are (left to right) owner Miguel Martin, Carol
Busby, Brian Martin, Karen Fraser and Sabrina Walton.
Crouching front is Robert Tatum.

Wednesday,  January  5, 2005

Bingo, a six-year-old part Spaniel mix-breed dog, has been awarded the prestigious title ‘Dog of the Year 2004’ by the Cayman Brac branch of the Humane Society (HS).

According to the HS, Bingo was the easy winner for this year’s award for his vital role in finding an 87-year old man, missing in the bush on Cayman Brac’s Bluff for 25 hours, on Saturday 23 October.

As well as his certificate, Bingo, who is owned by Miguel Martin, will receive a grooming by Humane Society members in January and July, a grooming brush, a bag of pig ears and the promise of a dog house.

The HS will also pay for his annual check-up with heartworm test and a year’s supply of Front-line to keep the fleas away. 

The man who perhaps owes his life to Bingo, Barton Kirkconnell, had been staying on Cayman Brac after losing his South Sound home during Hurricane Ivan. He was reported missing from the private home on Stake Bay Bluff Road where he had been staying at 7.40 am Saturday, according to police. 

Around 25 people, including police and fire officers, family members and concerned residents of Cayman Brac searched all day, from the area surrounding the house and grounds out for several miles along the edges of the road near the house.

Police said they thought the rough terrain of the land would not allow Mr. Kirkconnell to go very far off the road. The rescue team was joined just before 5.00pm by two canine officers and four dogs from Grand Cayman and they continued to search the area until 8.20 pm, at which point, it seemed pointless to go on, said police.

Early Sunday morning, as Mr Martin was setting off to join the search party for a second day of hunting the bush for the missing man, he noticed that Bingo was barking and running back and forth to a rough trail opposite his house. Mr Martin said his dog lead him straight to Mr Kirkconnell, who was lying on his back and shivering a little, but able to answer his name when called.

A family member said that Mr Kirkconnell was in perfect health except for a few bruises and scratches, despite being without food or water all day and being rained on twice during the night.

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