When you find a dog with no collar running loose around a valleys industrial estate you know that the power of Facebook will quickly set the situation right and a reunion will quickly be on the cards. But for Rhondda roofer, Lloyd Roach, that brief moment of time he spent with an escaped spaniel - who he named 'Phil' - entertained and amused thousands of people on social media, mainly because the hilarious video is filled with silly and warm Welsh valleys humour.
Their bond started last Friday (March 18) when en route to a job Lloyd saw 'Phil' bounding round the Gelli Industrial Estate, no collar, and almost getting knocked over. But due to the timing requirements of flat roof installation, Lloyd was both in a rush to move on and also confident in the powers of Facebook and animal lovers coming together to solve the Phil mystery. So off they went to the next job, with Phil not given a free ride, mind.
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Lloyd wrote on his Facebook: "Philip and I immediately struck up a bond and in no time we was driving through the Rhondda in my van flagging other drivers and giving each other fist bumps after we’d both got out and pissed on a tree. We did everything together me and phill [sic], I’m going to miss him, he came and finished a roof with me, I give him a few biscuits, a bowl of water, we played cards and talked about times gone by. Then sadly he left my life forever."
WalesOnline spoke to Lloyd, not Phil, sadly, and the 40-year-old from Trealaw was bowled over by the reaction to the video, which has already had 4,500 views. You can find mores stories from the Rhondda by signing up to our newsletter here.
"I just thought I'd document it," Lloyd said, with the roofer baffled by the amount of friend requests he's had since the video went up.
"I'm a bit of an idiot to be honest," he laughed. "I saw him running about and had to get back to work quickly and me and the boys just started calling him ..'OW Phil!'"
Phil, whose real name is Alfie was taken to the vets in Tonypandy by Lloyd and reunited with his owners in Gelli. "We've had some small conversations," added Lloyd, who said he'd heard from the owners. "I've had inbox messages from the family saying they're electricians, and if I ever need a job doing. It's been nice."
Lloyd decided to document his and Phil's, or Alfie's, journey - which in total was two hours of playing cards, drinking tea and peeing on trees, because he has his own YouTube channel where he puts on videos filled with valleys humour. You can find Lloyd on YouTube at ValleysRoachy and see his full post about Phil, here. In the meantime scroll back up and watch Lloyd's video more than once, as it's guaranteed to make you laugh.
