Tomsk Residents Question Dog Owner's Motives in Gilay Search

The owner of the dog Gilay, lost in Tomsk Oblast, is still searching. The Telegram channel dedicated to the animal remains active. People continue to offer support, but some have raised questions about the whole story. One Tomsk resident even filed a police report, believing that the entire search for the dog looks very suspicious — let«s recall how it began.

In early October, the story of a lost Weimaraner named Gilay spread across the country. His owner told journalists that he came to Tomsk Oblast from Novosibirsk on a business trip. On October 9, during a walk near Suyetilovka village (about 40 kilometers from the city), he lost his pet. He shared this story with the media, city public groups, and the animal protection community — it quickly gained traction. Many people joined the search for Gilay: they combed fields, forests, the city, and distributed flyers with the dog«s photo.

More than five thousand people have joined the Telegram channel dedicated to the dog«s search (it remains active to this day). The channel administrator publishes video appeals from Alexander, who shares information about the search, including photos. One subscriber even recorded a support video where she performs the song »I«m Not There». In the comments, people write words of support, offer help, including financial assistance. However, there are no published reports on the expenses for the search — this raised suspicions among local animal rights activists.

A journalist from NGS70.RU contacted one of them — Inga Vorobyeva (name changed at the heroine«s request). She said that she first heard about this story when an announcement about Gilay»s disappearance came to the «suggestions» of a group on VKontakte. The group published the information, and then the animal rights activist came across a chat dedicated to the dog«s search.

— And then I had doubts. I was initially told that he (Alexander — Ed.) went with the dog hunting in our area. He generally gave different stories: sometimes a business trip, sometimes hunting. And then I look at a video where he films himself against the background of his jeep, and he«s wearing a summer home tracksuit. I take a screenshot of this video, send it to the chat and ask: »Is this how a person goes hunting in October?« They started insulting me, then they block me. But one woman noticed my comment.

According to Inga, then the woman contacted her and told her many interesting things: for example, that the dog owner«s namesake was convicted of fraud.

Criminal Case for Fraud

Inga, together with her new acquaintance, began piecing together information about Gilay«s owner — Alexander Odobesko. A journalist from NGS70.RU managed to find a social media page with the same full name and corresponding photos, date of birth, and similarly, he introduced himself in an interview with GTRK »Tomsk« (the state television and radio broadcasting company), talking about the dog»s search (later the interview disappeared from the GTRK website but remained on Alexander«s social media).

First, it turned out that the dog owner«s namesake has large debts: according to data from the bailiffs service, many enforcement orders have been issued against a man with the same full name and date of birth. The total debt amount is over 600,000 rubles (approximately $6,000 at current rates). These are debts for alimony, traffic police fines, and loan arrears. Additionally, there are many enforcement orders for recovering damages caused by crimes to individuals or legal entities.

According to data from the Sovetsky District Court (the court decision is published and available on the website), in 2021, the dog owner«s namesake was found guilty of organizing a criminal community and fraud: in the verdict text, it is stated that from 2013 to 2016, participants of the organized criminal group under the leadership of a man with the same full name created an interregional network based on LLC »NOA«. It operated in Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, and Tomsk. Structural units, under the guise of helping to find rental housing, deceived citizens and stole their money. The court found that the group members actually provided information from archived or fabricated advertisements. In total, more than 900 people suffered from the actions of the criminals, with over three million rubles stolen (approximately $30,000 at current rates).

The court sentenced Odobesko to six years in prison, and he never admitted guilt.

Police Report

Inga Vorobyeva wrote a statement to the police (the confirming document is available to the editorial office), as she is sure that this whole noisy story with the dog search looks very suspicious.

— I know that a collection was organized for gasoline, food, clothing. At the same time, he himself never reported on this collection. No one knows exactly how much money was actually collected, — says Inga.

In the «Gilay Alex» group, the journalist managed to find a video where Alexander says that he conducted money collections for the search. According to him, they lasted two days.

Polina Volobueva, a volunteer at the Tomsk shelter for homeless animals «Verny Drug» (Faithful Friend), told NGS70.RU that she participated in the search for Gilay twice. According to her, she has extensive experience in searching for lost animals, so she immediately noticed suspicious aspects.

— For some reason, he (Alexander — Ed.) always sent all volunteers to search in the city. And he himself always chose distant routes. He could be out of contact for six hours. And when the girls gathered and said: «Something is fishy here, let»s call the police collectively.« He appeared ten minutes later. Even though before that, they couldn»t reach him by phone. And there were many such oddities.

Another Tomsk resident, Elena, who participated in the search, said that this whole story also seems strange to her. She plans to file a collective statement with the police, which five people will sign.

— We have such versions: the dog once existed but died or got lost, or the dog is just sitting somewhere, and he knows where it is. I know for sure that he didn«t search for it several nights when people were searching. We went to Suyetilovka, talked to people. They said that from the first days, no one was searching for the dog there. By the way, he called me with confrontations and threats because I»m writing a collective statement against him, — says Elena.

A journalist from NGS70.RU tried several times to contact Alexander Odobesko to ask for a comment on the animal rights activists« words. But each time, he cited being busy and hung up the call.

The press service of the Tomsk Oblast police department confirmed to us that the message from Inga Vorobyeva has been registered, and a decision has not yet been made — an inspection is being conducted.

We will continue to monitor how this story develops.