After a friend told the couple of a stray dog she had been observing, they patiently watched long enough to see a pattern in the dog's activities, got help from the local humane society in a trap loan and instructions, and then used a barbecue bait leading up to a trap covered with cut branches to disguise it.
Kannans & dog reunite after 18 months
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on December 26, 2004 02:03 AM
Jack and Beth Kannan say they'll never look at stray dogs the same way again. Not after spending nearly 18 months searching for one that belonged to them.
"All stray dogs are not abandoned," Kannan said. "We need to pay attention."
The Kannans said that whenever they used to see unattended dogs, they'd wonder about the dogs' stories. Then they embarked on an adventure of their own. It began nearly two years ago after Mrs. Kannan's stepmother in Arlington, Va., died. Mrs. Kannan's stepsister, Janice, a nun in Philadelphia, had taken a leave of absence to care for her mother. After tying up loose ends, it came time to return to the convent, but she needed a home for her mother's dog.
Mia, a lab and poodle mix, came to live with the Kannans in July 2003. The ride to Goldsboro was uneventful, Mrs. Kannan said. Once home, though, Mia seemed a skittish and slept under the bed the first night.
The dog seemed to be adjusting to her new surroundings, the couple said. Then, while on a Sunday night walk, Mia became tangled in her lead. Mrs. Kannan said that instead of bending down to adjust it, she attempted to re-snap it. At that same time, someone in the area started a lawn mower, spooking the dog. Mia bolted.
They were only three blocks from the Kannans' home on Pineview Avenue in Goldsboro. The couple began an avid search.
"We had some guilt," Kannan said. "They had entrusted the dog with us. We only had it three days when it was lost."
Mia had a collar and identification tag around her neck but the tag still had the Virginia phone numbers of her previous owner and veterinarian. The Virginia house was now empty, but Kannan said they kept the phone hooked up in case someone tried to call about the missing dog. They also notified the veterinarian there about the situation.
"Sherlock Bones," a California-based organization that specializes in finding lost dogs, was also put on the case. "He has a list a mile long of famous movie stars' dogs he's found," Mrs. Kannan said. The organization offered suggestions on how to conduct a search and created posters for the Kannans. The posters were sent to every local veterinarian within 25 miles, as well as groomers. The couple received a call from Mount Olive and Smithfield, but neither panned out.
"The trail got cold the day she bolted," Kannan said. Sister Janice and another nun came to Goldsboro and stayed at the Kannans' for a week to help with the search.
"They talked to people in yards, UPS, postmen," Kannan said. "The area was canvassed thoroughly by two nuns and Beth and I." Mrs. Kannan joked that they managed to have a lot of fun.
"We teased them that they had divine help in finding the dog," she said. But there was never a sighting, never a call, Kannan said.
"It was just like she disappeared off the face of the earth," Mrs. Kannan said.
Recently, Anita Hajjar, a friend of the Kannans who is active in the Humane Society and Welfare of Our Furry Friends, asked if they had ever found the missing dog.
"I told her, 'I don't feel like it's put to bed yet but I pray it's found a good home,'" she said. Later, Ms. Hajjar mentioned something the Kannans might want to consider.
"She said she passed by the bus station and kept seeing this dog," Mrs. Kannan said. " 'I know it's not your dog but I'm trying to get it to come to me,' she said." Ms. Hajjar had also taken food to the dog and managed to snap some pictures.
"We looked at one picture and said, 'That's Mia,'" Mrs. Kannan said. "I called Anita and she told me where the dog was." The Monday after Thanksgiving, Mrs. Kannan went to the location and spotted the dog.
"We couldn't get it to come to us," she said. "It was a good city block away." She said she returned every day that week, taking food, water and a blanket Mia had slept on. She went armed with binoculars and stationed herself near the bus station.
"I could see she didn't have the tags on at that point," she said. She still wasn't completely sure it was Mia. But she also couldn't give up just yet.
"At that point, even if it wasn't Mia, I had decided I'd like to take care of that dog," she said. The temperatures were dropping and she was concerned about the animal's safety. She contacted the animal shelter about how to catch a dog.
"They were very helpful," Kannan said. "They came out and brought a cage and showed me how to trap it," Mrs. Kannan added. Barbecue was suggested as good bait because of its strong smell, she said, so Wilber's restaurant donated some for the cause.
Mrs. Kannan said she had watched the dog for a week and knew its routine well enough to proceed with a plan. One Friday morning, she and her husband embarked on their mission.
"The cage was set up and we spread out the barbecue with a trail leading up to it," Mrs. Kannan said. "Jack took clippers and we cut branches and disguised the cage."
She had to leave briefly to go home. When she returned 15 minutes later, she scanned the field and then looked at the cage. There was Mia.
"I squatted down and said, 'Hey, Mia.' And her little tail started wagging. She licked my hand."
The dog was taken to the vet, where she was examined and had to be shaved because her coat was matted. The dog was missing a tooth and had a scar on the right side of her belly.
"The more I was around her, the more I felt certain it was her," Mrs. Kannan said. "This just confirmed it."
The Kannans say the main concerns for Mia now are heartworms and helping her regain her strength. She lost about half of her body weight during the time away, Kannan said. Mia was returned home again last week. She has settled in pretty well so far, the Kannans said.
"She used to be a picky eater, but not now," Kannan said. "Another difference is that she was skittish when we got her but she's had an attitude adjustment and seems more comfortable with people."
"She took the stairs two steps at a time this week," Mrs. Kannan added. "And we've seen her take a bone in her mouth, toss it up five or six feet in the air.
"As far as we can tell, she's fine. In a way, it's almost like she didn't miss a beat."
It's still a mystery how the 12-year-old dog survived for nearly a year and a half on its own. Even so, the Kannans said they never quite gave up hope of finding their charge.
"There was something in my heart," Mrs. Kannan said. "About three months ago, cleaning out the paperwork and vet information, I almost threw everything away about her tests and such. I was not quite ready."
Now she says, "Everybody cries when they hear about it."
"It's the best Christmas present we have got this year," Kannan said.
Source: News Argus
http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2004/12/26/kannans_dog_reunite_after_18_months/index.shtml
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Amos, a Boston Terrier
Man, 19-pound best friend reunited
Twice-rescued dog vanished June 16
By Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Jun 26, 2007
MILLBURY— If Amos could talk, he’d have quite the story to tell. After being taken from his owner’s car in a grocery store parking lot June 16, he was found on the Route 146 roadside in Worcester less than a week later, on Friday, by a woman who had planned to take him to the pound. Instead, she read about a Millbury’s man search for his missing dog in yesterday’s Telegram & Gazette and realized the dog she rescued might have been that man’s pet, a Boston terrier.
Minutes after contacting James M Weaver Jr, there was no doubt that the dog was indeed Amos. “I am so happy,” Mr. Weaver said yesterday afternoon, as Amos lay beside his left foot. Mr. Weaver was working in his computer room when his phone rang early yesterday morning, with the Worcester woman, Shirley Moccia, telling him she might have his dog.
She explained that she found the dog on the Route 146 roadside, near Interstate 290, Mr Weaver said, and captured the dog to prevent him from getting hurt or killed. Though the dog was not wearing any identification, he fit the description of Amos, and she invited Mr. Weaver to her home to meet the dog. Mr. Weaver wasted no time. Moments after the 7:40 a.m. phone call, he left the e-mail he was typing in mid-sentence and raced to her address.
“I took one look at him, and he took one look at me. I said, ‘Amos!’ and he was jumping up on me, and I was hugging him,” Mr. Weaver said. “There is no doubt that this is my dog.”
Mr. Weaver doesn’t know who took him or how he wound up on the side of the highway, but despite the weeklong ordeal, Amos is no worse for the wear.
“He’s suffered some trauma, but he is not in too bad shape. Whoever took him, fed him,” Mr. Weaver said. Mr. Weaver, a 76-year-old Korean War Navy veteran, would not say how much of a reward he gave to the woman, only that she was amply compensated.
Amos is only 2 years old, but he already has quite the life story, a story that is marked by both trauma and good luck. Amos was 6 months old when he was rescued from living conditions that left him malnourished and ill. He was adopted by Mr. Weaver 18 months ago, and nursed back to health. The two formed a strong bond: The dog went everywhere with Mr. Weaver, whether it was camping or running daily errands.
They were inseparable until June 16, when Mr. Weaver went to Price Chopper on Greenwood Street in Worcester and left his companion in his truck, with windows rolled down a bit and the doors unlocked, while he went inside the store to buy sausages and meatballs. When he returned, Amos was not there to greet him; instead he found only Amos’ leash, which had been detached. Mr. Weaver contacted the Worcester Police Department and began searching for Amos, plastering the Price Chopper parking lot with lost dog fliers and asking all local veterinarians to be on the lookout for Amos.
The only thing that can compare with Mr. Weaver’s joy at being reunited with his 19-pound, four-legged best friend, is the gratitude he has for all those who helped in the search that led to the recovery of Amos. “I can’t thank you all enough,” Mr. Weaver said.
Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20070626/NEWS/706260646/1116
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Twice-rescued dog vanished June 16
By Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Jun 26, 2007
MILLBURY— If Amos could talk, he’d have quite the story to tell. After being taken from his owner’s car in a grocery store parking lot June 16, he was found on the Route 146 roadside in Worcester less than a week later, on Friday, by a woman who had planned to take him to the pound. Instead, she read about a Millbury’s man search for his missing dog in yesterday’s Telegram & Gazette and realized the dog she rescued might have been that man’s pet, a Boston terrier.
Minutes after contacting James M Weaver Jr, there was no doubt that the dog was indeed Amos. “I am so happy,” Mr. Weaver said yesterday afternoon, as Amos lay beside his left foot. Mr. Weaver was working in his computer room when his phone rang early yesterday morning, with the Worcester woman, Shirley Moccia, telling him she might have his dog.
She explained that she found the dog on the Route 146 roadside, near Interstate 290, Mr Weaver said, and captured the dog to prevent him from getting hurt or killed. Though the dog was not wearing any identification, he fit the description of Amos, and she invited Mr. Weaver to her home to meet the dog. Mr. Weaver wasted no time. Moments after the 7:40 a.m. phone call, he left the e-mail he was typing in mid-sentence and raced to her address.
“I took one look at him, and he took one look at me. I said, ‘Amos!’ and he was jumping up on me, and I was hugging him,” Mr. Weaver said. “There is no doubt that this is my dog.”
Mr. Weaver doesn’t know who took him or how he wound up on the side of the highway, but despite the weeklong ordeal, Amos is no worse for the wear.
“He’s suffered some trauma, but he is not in too bad shape. Whoever took him, fed him,” Mr. Weaver said. Mr. Weaver, a 76-year-old Korean War Navy veteran, would not say how much of a reward he gave to the woman, only that she was amply compensated.
Amos is only 2 years old, but he already has quite the life story, a story that is marked by both trauma and good luck. Amos was 6 months old when he was rescued from living conditions that left him malnourished and ill. He was adopted by Mr. Weaver 18 months ago, and nursed back to health. The two formed a strong bond: The dog went everywhere with Mr. Weaver, whether it was camping or running daily errands.
They were inseparable until June 16, when Mr. Weaver went to Price Chopper on Greenwood Street in Worcester and left his companion in his truck, with windows rolled down a bit and the doors unlocked, while he went inside the store to buy sausages and meatballs. When he returned, Amos was not there to greet him; instead he found only Amos’ leash, which had been detached. Mr. Weaver contacted the Worcester Police Department and began searching for Amos, plastering the Price Chopper parking lot with lost dog fliers and asking all local veterinarians to be on the lookout for Amos.
The only thing that can compare with Mr. Weaver’s joy at being reunited with his 19-pound, four-legged best friend, is the gratitude he has for all those who helped in the search that led to the recovery of Amos. “I can’t thank you all enough,” Mr. Weaver said.
Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20070626/NEWS/706260646/1116
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Saturday, March 28, 2009
Mattie, an Italian Greyhound
Microchipping your Italian Greyhound
Is it important? Find out by reading this story!
A very happy reunion with her pet owners
Covered in fleas and skinny as a rail, she survived 22 days in scorching record breaking heat.
Mattie, happy to be back home and in her bed
Those of us who breed purebred dogs often complain about the myriad of expenses that accompany an ethical, caring, first class breeding program. We often wonder why we do what we do...and why we spend so much of our hard earned money on health testing and other preventive measures. Sometimes an answer is not received until much later.
For example...when Microchipping first became available I was totally against it and thought that it wasn't worth the money. Worse yet I felt the possible negative health-related side effects that the implantation might cause were not yet known. The procedure was in its infancy and I wasn't willing to risk my dogs' health on something so new. But as the years rolled by and the evidence began to accumulate in support of Microchipping ... I began to change my mind. It soon became evident there were no serious health risks and the benefits numerable. I knew that the facts couldn't be ignored. Microchipping saved lives and reunited families with their beloved pets.
Covered in fleas and skinny as a rail, she survived 22 days in scorching record breaking heat.
Over two years ago I started microchipping all my puppies and adults. The security of knowing that should the unthinkable occur...my pups would be recoverable made the lure of microchipping impossible to resist. My years of experience made it crystal clear that almost any dog could suffer the consequences of getting lost, stolen or escaping even from the most secure setting. There are no guarantees that it won’t happen. If it could happen to me, the breeder who is careful about rearing good temperaments and finding terrific homes, it could happen to anyone. In addition most of those who had purchased pets from me in the past were encouraged to microchip as well.
More than 3 million pets are registered with HomeAgain Microchipping. According to the HomeAgain website, more than 308,647 pets have been returned because of their chipping system. And if we count my own relative recent experience...that number can now be increased to 308,648 recovered because of a microchip.
About a year ago a little dog I had bred was returned to me when her former owners found out that their newborn son was allergic to dogs. Mattie was one of those "before microchipping dogs". Mattie's new perfect forever home was soon found ...but before she left I made sure that she was microchipped. Her owners made sure to register her microchip with HomeAgain. How little did I know how fateful that simple procedure would become and how important was that her owners registered the chip. Her new owners were all that any breeder could hope for in a loving, canine committed home. The shared love between Mattie and her new owners was obvious and extremely touching.
A year later, Mattie's owners went on vacation. Being responsible they left Mattie in the care of her co-breeder. The unthinkable happened. A door accidentally popped open and out flew Mattie in a panic. She ran up the driveway and disappeared with her tail shaking in the breeze. For those of you who know the lightning speed of an Italian Greyhound...believe me this happened in a blink of an eye. And she would pick the WORST possible time of the year to go missing - just before the Fourth of July with all the booming firecrackers and canine nerve-wracking fireworks. With each boom of a firecracker and sonic blast of a bottle rocket my heart would dip and my stomach would hit bottom. Somewhere in all the noise and confusion of a long holiday week...she was lost, alone, scared and nervous. She was a little 10 pound dog caught in the confusion of a celebrating nation.
Both her co-breeder and I plus her owners were heartsick. Missing dog signs soon went up. There was door to door canvassing and many people spent literally hundreds of hours searching neighborhoods - and miles and miles of woods. Everything came to nothing. There was no sign of Mattie. As time went by hopes began to plummet and the thought that we'd find her even dead ...were dwindling. At 22 days missing just about all positive thoughts had died. How could such a small, delicate little dog survive? The heat index during this time reached well above 100 degrees with no rain to give relief to the heat. All that was left was one thin ray of hope fastened on the microchip implanted over a year ago.
So it's not a surprise that I had to pinch myself this morning to make sure I wasn't dreaming. When the phone rang I almost didn't answer. I was tired after a long stretch in the working world...and this was my first day off. But I picked up the phone and the excited voice of Jenny saying, "She's been found!" almost didn't register. "Mattie is at the Animal Clinic!! SHE'S BEEN FOUND." I sat up. This just couldn't be real!!!! I flew out to the car and down to the vet clinic to see with my own eyes that she was really there. And THERE SHE WAS ALIVE... and not at death's door! The will of a little Italian Greyhound to survive is incredible. Her co-breeder later made the cute comment of: “She voted everyone else off the island. She’s the survivor!” I cried my eyes out when they brought her out for me to hold her.
The vet clinic was kind enough to fill in some of the blanks of where and what she had been up to. She was almost 5 miles from her point of escape and in an area where none of us had thought to look. She had crossed a very busy highway, gone through miles and miles of woods and several subdivisions before selecting a place where she thought she'd be safe. It was near a home with cats that had a little "doggie door" for the cats. She had been there for a few days before becoming brave enough to enter their home through the doggie door and had allow herself to be picked up. Those kind people then immediately brought Mattie to the animal clinic where she was scanned and her owners called. I was so thrilled to be there for the tearful reunion. Jenny, her owner couldn't believe that one little microchip had literally saved her baby's life and brought her home.
Mattie was covered in fleas. The pads of her feet were worn thin and blistered. She had a couple of sores but other than that... for a dog missing 22 days, she was in remarkably good health. Mattie should recover fully with no outward signs of her ordeal. Only time will tell the toll this experience had on her emotionally. The will to survive of a little Italian Greyhound never ceases to amaze me. I'm just glad she was intelligent enough to find a home compassionate and responsible enough to take her to a vet clinic; that she found the courage to enter their home in the first place and that the vet clinic scanned for a microchip.
For those of you who are breeders and are not microchipping, please learn the lesson of this experience. This procedure is so important that it should not be left to possibly procrastinating owners to implement. Please make sure that the procedure is completed on every dog of your breeding BEFORE the dog is placed with a permanent owner. PLEASE, PLEASE MICROCHIP! For loving pet owners, please take the time to have your pet microchipped if it hasn't been done already. It may become too late for those who just kept putting it off. Register your chips if you have not already done so. . It may be the best money you will ever spend. The costs really are minimal when one considers the safe return of a priceless pet.
THANK YOU HomeAgain Microchipping!!! And THANK YOU to the wonderful people who convinced me the value of a little chip the size of a grain of rice!
Happy endings aren't just in fairy tales.
Source: http://www.italian-greyhound.net/microchip.htm
Is it important? Find out by reading this story!
A very happy reunion with her pet owners
Covered in fleas and skinny as a rail, she survived 22 days in scorching record breaking heat.
Mattie, happy to be back home and in her bed
Those of us who breed purebred dogs often complain about the myriad of expenses that accompany an ethical, caring, first class breeding program. We often wonder why we do what we do...and why we spend so much of our hard earned money on health testing and other preventive measures. Sometimes an answer is not received until much later.
For example...when Microchipping first became available I was totally against it and thought that it wasn't worth the money. Worse yet I felt the possible negative health-related side effects that the implantation might cause were not yet known. The procedure was in its infancy and I wasn't willing to risk my dogs' health on something so new. But as the years rolled by and the evidence began to accumulate in support of Microchipping ... I began to change my mind. It soon became evident there were no serious health risks and the benefits numerable. I knew that the facts couldn't be ignored. Microchipping saved lives and reunited families with their beloved pets.
Covered in fleas and skinny as a rail, she survived 22 days in scorching record breaking heat.
Over two years ago I started microchipping all my puppies and adults. The security of knowing that should the unthinkable occur...my pups would be recoverable made the lure of microchipping impossible to resist. My years of experience made it crystal clear that almost any dog could suffer the consequences of getting lost, stolen or escaping even from the most secure setting. There are no guarantees that it won’t happen. If it could happen to me, the breeder who is careful about rearing good temperaments and finding terrific homes, it could happen to anyone. In addition most of those who had purchased pets from me in the past were encouraged to microchip as well.
More than 3 million pets are registered with HomeAgain Microchipping. According to the HomeAgain website, more than 308,647 pets have been returned because of their chipping system. And if we count my own relative recent experience...that number can now be increased to 308,648 recovered because of a microchip.
About a year ago a little dog I had bred was returned to me when her former owners found out that their newborn son was allergic to dogs. Mattie was one of those "before microchipping dogs". Mattie's new perfect forever home was soon found ...but before she left I made sure that she was microchipped. Her owners made sure to register her microchip with HomeAgain. How little did I know how fateful that simple procedure would become and how important was that her owners registered the chip. Her new owners were all that any breeder could hope for in a loving, canine committed home. The shared love between Mattie and her new owners was obvious and extremely touching.
A year later, Mattie's owners went on vacation. Being responsible they left Mattie in the care of her co-breeder. The unthinkable happened. A door accidentally popped open and out flew Mattie in a panic. She ran up the driveway and disappeared with her tail shaking in the breeze. For those of you who know the lightning speed of an Italian Greyhound...believe me this happened in a blink of an eye. And she would pick the WORST possible time of the year to go missing - just before the Fourth of July with all the booming firecrackers and canine nerve-wracking fireworks. With each boom of a firecracker and sonic blast of a bottle rocket my heart would dip and my stomach would hit bottom. Somewhere in all the noise and confusion of a long holiday week...she was lost, alone, scared and nervous. She was a little 10 pound dog caught in the confusion of a celebrating nation.
Both her co-breeder and I plus her owners were heartsick. Missing dog signs soon went up. There was door to door canvassing and many people spent literally hundreds of hours searching neighborhoods - and miles and miles of woods. Everything came to nothing. There was no sign of Mattie. As time went by hopes began to plummet and the thought that we'd find her even dead ...were dwindling. At 22 days missing just about all positive thoughts had died. How could such a small, delicate little dog survive? The heat index during this time reached well above 100 degrees with no rain to give relief to the heat. All that was left was one thin ray of hope fastened on the microchip implanted over a year ago.
So it's not a surprise that I had to pinch myself this morning to make sure I wasn't dreaming. When the phone rang I almost didn't answer. I was tired after a long stretch in the working world...and this was my first day off. But I picked up the phone and the excited voice of Jenny saying, "She's been found!" almost didn't register. "Mattie is at the Animal Clinic!! SHE'S BEEN FOUND." I sat up. This just couldn't be real!!!! I flew out to the car and down to the vet clinic to see with my own eyes that she was really there. And THERE SHE WAS ALIVE... and not at death's door! The will of a little Italian Greyhound to survive is incredible. Her co-breeder later made the cute comment of: “She voted everyone else off the island. She’s the survivor!” I cried my eyes out when they brought her out for me to hold her.
The vet clinic was kind enough to fill in some of the blanks of where and what she had been up to. She was almost 5 miles from her point of escape and in an area where none of us had thought to look. She had crossed a very busy highway, gone through miles and miles of woods and several subdivisions before selecting a place where she thought she'd be safe. It was near a home with cats that had a little "doggie door" for the cats. She had been there for a few days before becoming brave enough to enter their home through the doggie door and had allow herself to be picked up. Those kind people then immediately brought Mattie to the animal clinic where she was scanned and her owners called. I was so thrilled to be there for the tearful reunion. Jenny, her owner couldn't believe that one little microchip had literally saved her baby's life and brought her home.
Mattie was covered in fleas. The pads of her feet were worn thin and blistered. She had a couple of sores but other than that... for a dog missing 22 days, she was in remarkably good health. Mattie should recover fully with no outward signs of her ordeal. Only time will tell the toll this experience had on her emotionally. The will to survive of a little Italian Greyhound never ceases to amaze me. I'm just glad she was intelligent enough to find a home compassionate and responsible enough to take her to a vet clinic; that she found the courage to enter their home in the first place and that the vet clinic scanned for a microchip.
For those of you who are breeders and are not microchipping, please learn the lesson of this experience. This procedure is so important that it should not be left to possibly procrastinating owners to implement. Please make sure that the procedure is completed on every dog of your breeding BEFORE the dog is placed with a permanent owner. PLEASE, PLEASE MICROCHIP! For loving pet owners, please take the time to have your pet microchipped if it hasn't been done already. It may become too late for those who just kept putting it off. Register your chips if you have not already done so. . It may be the best money you will ever spend. The costs really are minimal when one considers the safe return of a priceless pet.
THANK YOU HomeAgain Microchipping!!! And THANK YOU to the wonderful people who convinced me the value of a little chip the size of a grain of rice!
Happy endings aren't just in fairy tales.
Source: http://www.italian-greyhound.net/microchip.htm
Friday, March 27, 2009
Beau, German Shepherd
Nice story, told by the folks that found Beau. Enjoy!
Beau was Lost, AND FOUND!!!
Posted by Laurie and Alan
Monday, June 04, 2007
Alan was at an Elder Retreat until Saturday evening. While I was having my dinner in the library I noticed what I thought was a very large Coyote just below the window. I got up to see and noticed it wasn't a Coyote but a German Shepard, who wanted in at our front door, right now!
"Beau"
I went out to try and get him and see if he had a collar with a name tag. I finally found him out back trying to get into our conservatory doors. While Ceddie and Wesley barked and carried on inside, he didn't care, he wanted refuge, immediately! He was totally and completely lost and confused.
I tried to call Alan on his cell but because he was in the pass on his way home there was no reception. All I could do was to leave a message telling him to NOT open the garage door, otherwise he'd let the German Shepard out!
Unable to get a hold of Alan I went and got a garden chair and constructed a large sign that said, "Alan, do not open garage door!" I taped it on the chair and set in the middle of the driveway at the entrance, --he was sure to notice that!!!
I finally got a call from Alan, he was only 30 minutes away from home! I told him about the dog --we were on a mission to get this dog back home to his loved ones!
We called Vets around our area to find out which ones were open to scan for a microchip. We found one in Kirkland, an emergency care hospital. It was about 10pm by now. We headed out to the hospital with the Shepard, they scanned him --no chip... we were sick, how were we going to get this boy home?
The hospital gave us several phone numbers where we could leave him, the pound was one of them. I had heard that they euthanize after 3 days, NO WAY was he going there! PAWS was the only choice.
There was nothing more we could do... I cried that night. I felt so bad for this older doggie boy who was so visibly upset. The next morning Alan took him for a walk in our neighborhood, maybe he lived here... No, it was obvious he didn't.
We made color signs the next morning and would post them on our way to church. Before church I went out to the garage and laid my hands on him and prayed.
"Father", I prayed, "please help us find this doggie boys parents." I meant every word.
We posted the "Found Dog" signs along with all the other lost dog signs on the poles. We had made the decision to take him to PAWS, a "no kill" animal shelter after church. Our hearts were very heavy to say the least. I jumped out to tape our sign on yet another stop sign pole and glanced up...
"Lost Dog!" German Shepard
9 years old
Blue collar
"Beau"
Please call.......
I shouted to Alan as I was ripping the lost dog sign down! "I think this is the dog!" We stopped in the middle of the road and put on our flashers as he made the call. I could hear the woman on the other line screaming, "they found him!" She was crying and screaming with joy!
I can't describe the sense of utter relief that flooded my body that moment as I said a thank you to my Heavenly Father.
We turned around and headed back to our home to get Beau and take him home!
When we arrived the family came running out to greet their long lost dog and to thank us with hugs and tears. They told us that Beau had never left his property before. He just recently had had hip surgery and that they had called the very same Vet Hospital we had taken him to. But we failed to leave a number and the Vet Tech forgot to ask for one.
The owner had spent the night in the woods behind their home calling and looking for him because they thought that he'd been injured. And they hadn't slept at all that night. They posted their color signs, hoping for the call.
What a celebration we had in their front yard with Beau smiling from ear to ear!
As I was handing the lost and found signs to the owner I said, "I don't know if you folks are Christians but I've been praying for this dog."
The owner looked at me with a big smile and a laugh, non verbally I knew he was saying "thanks" in his own way.
We drove off with grateful hearts, a renewed faith in the power of prayer and the knowledge that yes, our Heavenly Father loves and cares even for our beloved pets!
Source: http://fromthewoodlands.blogspot.com/2007/06/lost-and-found-beau-gosh-what-weekend.html
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Bernie, a shaggy white dog
You don't get to hear the rescuer's story nearly often enough. But Jill Posner tells a beautiful story on her blog. A lot of us would give anything to have this experience. Enjoy the story.
The sweet tail of bernie tucker
October 14, 2007
I've been feeling down, teetering on that familiar ledge of uncertainty. Funny how fast that cliff edge can appear, just when I feel that I'm running on solid ground. Like turning a corner and oops, the ground has shifted beneath my feet. I've lost one of my pack recently, my human pack, and over the last few days, I sense I may be losing sight of where another one is headed. An unknowing, lack of resolution, something feels frayed and unfixable. It's not dissimilar to the sense of helplessness one feels when a beloved family pet disappears and you never find it. As the hours pass into days and months, the guilt grows, along with a firm belief that what you really want - is just to know. One way or another. Knowing is better than not.
I was heading down that dark path on Wednesday. The rain was sitting on my horizon and it was literally heading in to the East Bay. Rain may be necessary but it is not my friend. The phone rang. Steve, a man I knew, a little, from the time I helped him and his wife Ilene catch a small white terrified stray dog, was calling with a familiar plea ' Jill, I need some help with a dog'.
Steve had been feeding a shaggy white dog for a week or so, a dog who had been seen in the area for two months, but had just begun to show a pattern of behaviour. He (why did we think it was a he?) would emerge from the darkness of the railway tracks, the vast structures of the Chevron refinery shadowy in the background, flashing lights of the rail crossings casting a red glow over the scene, and the huge container train hissing and squealing slowly across the intersection at Cutting and Garrard.
Steve had begun to leave food behind a chain link fence surrounding a construction site, where the dog would spend part of the night. He had tried to coax the dog to come to him, but each time the animal had fled.
Wednesday night I drove to Point Richmond to see if I could help. Moments after I arrived, I saw him. Standing in the road near the construction site. There is something so acute about a dog's senses when he knows, just knows inside, that you are a predator and not a casual passer by. Before we had a chance to approach him, he put his head down, eyes studiously avoiding us while knowing exactly where we were, as if he were Bogart in a movie - moving swiftly, raising the collar on his raincoat and taking the first alley off Main Street, disappearing as if he had never been there. But in the dark I could hear the slightest tinkle as if a metal tag hung from a collar. The telltale wisp of smoke from Bogie's cigarette.
I smiled. I love these dogs. I told Steve we'd have to trap him, using a large humane trap, baited with food. He said 'this dog has the saddest face I've ever seen'. We would better understand why last night.
My friend Karen, an animal control officer with rescue red blood pumping through her veins, drove me and a trap to Steve and Ilene's house yesterday afternoon, and last night, just around dusk, Steve and I carried this large metal crate through the streets to the site, like two kids on a secret mission that you don't tell your parents about. We set it up and put the food at one end. The dog has to step on the metal plate in such a way to release the spring and the open gate shuts behind him.
We sat 50 yards away, on cold stone steps, watching and waiting. Finally, an hour later, there he was, a dim shape, carefully entering the building site and padding over to his feeding spot. And incredibly, moments later the dog was walking into the cage. I knew we would hear the harsh metallic sound of the gate slapping shut, but we heard nothing. Steve started panicking. But then I realised the dog was standing facing what would have been his exit, and he was motionless. The trap had worked. We tripped over each other rushing to the cage. The dog, barking furiously, was about as damn cute as they get. His anxious barking was accompanied by an involuntary wag of the tail.
As we approached the cage, I saw, under his shaggy, filthy, matted coat the metal tags I had heard a few nights before. Steve and I carried the heavy trap with the dog swaying inside, staggering like drunks, clambering over raised concrete walkways, and freshly dug trenches, half laughing half crying and cursing each time the trap bashed one of our legs. There's a moment when a stray but domesticated dog, so savvy on the streets, so eager to avoid capture, just surrenders. It's the most incredible thing - but at that moment, he knows that he is safe. It's why people like me, decry the cruelty of many animal shelters where this trust is betrayed each day.
At the house, we carried the trap into the garage and shut the door.
I slowly opened the gate and slipped my hand in to put a leash around his neck and guide him out. He moved slowly from the trap, a look of exhaustion on his face. His coat was muddy, thick mats hung from all over him, foxtails, burrs, and sticks dangling, and his fur hung in his eyes. His collar, once blue, was tangled in the matted mess. Slowly, as he flinched less and less at each touch, I found the clasp and released it. A red metal heart tag clinked against a rabies tag. They were both unreadable. Steve raced upstairs to wash the tags, and when we thought we could read the number, I made the call. The dog, called Bernie according to his tag, had stretched out on a blanket, not running now. It was 8.30pm.
A woman answered. I said 'I'm calling about your dog, are you missing a dog?' The voice on the other end sounded weary, as if after a dozen false starts, she no longer allowed herself the excitement of thinking her dog may have been found. Finally, she understood. I had her dog. I had the collar with the red heart tag, and her phone number. In San Leandro, nearly 30 miles away, Pat and Doug and their family couldn't believe what they were hearing. 'I love that dog with all my heart'. Pat said. I replied, 'well, he's here and ready to go home'. I felt she still didn't believe me.
At 9.30 pm, Bernie Tucker was reunited with his family, his explosive joy reverberating around the small entryway as he leapt at them, as they sobbed and shook with wonderment. I asked 'How did he get away from you?'. He jumped out of the car', they said, 'in Oakland, the window was just a little too low, and for the first few days we got dozens of calls, and then nothing'.
Here's the kicker. Bernie hadn't been running loose for two months. Bernie went missing in January. Ten months later, one evening in October - as he, with the face of a sad lost dog, began another night of evading the cruelty of strangers and depending on the kindness of strangers - in the space of two hours - Bernie Tucker went home.
Source: Jill Posner's Blog
http://jillposener.blogs.com/jill_rants_and_raves/2007/10/the-sweet-tail-.html
Bernie, looking happy he was caught!
Bernie's family - what a night!!!
The sweet tail of bernie tucker
October 14, 2007
I've been feeling down, teetering on that familiar ledge of uncertainty. Funny how fast that cliff edge can appear, just when I feel that I'm running on solid ground. Like turning a corner and oops, the ground has shifted beneath my feet. I've lost one of my pack recently, my human pack, and over the last few days, I sense I may be losing sight of where another one is headed. An unknowing, lack of resolution, something feels frayed and unfixable. It's not dissimilar to the sense of helplessness one feels when a beloved family pet disappears and you never find it. As the hours pass into days and months, the guilt grows, along with a firm belief that what you really want - is just to know. One way or another. Knowing is better than not.
I was heading down that dark path on Wednesday. The rain was sitting on my horizon and it was literally heading in to the East Bay. Rain may be necessary but it is not my friend. The phone rang. Steve, a man I knew, a little, from the time I helped him and his wife Ilene catch a small white terrified stray dog, was calling with a familiar plea ' Jill, I need some help with a dog'.
Steve had been feeding a shaggy white dog for a week or so, a dog who had been seen in the area for two months, but had just begun to show a pattern of behaviour. He (why did we think it was a he?) would emerge from the darkness of the railway tracks, the vast structures of the Chevron refinery shadowy in the background, flashing lights of the rail crossings casting a red glow over the scene, and the huge container train hissing and squealing slowly across the intersection at Cutting and Garrard.
Steve had begun to leave food behind a chain link fence surrounding a construction site, where the dog would spend part of the night. He had tried to coax the dog to come to him, but each time the animal had fled.
Wednesday night I drove to Point Richmond to see if I could help. Moments after I arrived, I saw him. Standing in the road near the construction site. There is something so acute about a dog's senses when he knows, just knows inside, that you are a predator and not a casual passer by. Before we had a chance to approach him, he put his head down, eyes studiously avoiding us while knowing exactly where we were, as if he were Bogart in a movie - moving swiftly, raising the collar on his raincoat and taking the first alley off Main Street, disappearing as if he had never been there. But in the dark I could hear the slightest tinkle as if a metal tag hung from a collar. The telltale wisp of smoke from Bogie's cigarette.
I smiled. I love these dogs. I told Steve we'd have to trap him, using a large humane trap, baited with food. He said 'this dog has the saddest face I've ever seen'. We would better understand why last night.
My friend Karen, an animal control officer with rescue red blood pumping through her veins, drove me and a trap to Steve and Ilene's house yesterday afternoon, and last night, just around dusk, Steve and I carried this large metal crate through the streets to the site, like two kids on a secret mission that you don't tell your parents about. We set it up and put the food at one end. The dog has to step on the metal plate in such a way to release the spring and the open gate shuts behind him.
We sat 50 yards away, on cold stone steps, watching and waiting. Finally, an hour later, there he was, a dim shape, carefully entering the building site and padding over to his feeding spot. And incredibly, moments later the dog was walking into the cage. I knew we would hear the harsh metallic sound of the gate slapping shut, but we heard nothing. Steve started panicking. But then I realised the dog was standing facing what would have been his exit, and he was motionless. The trap had worked. We tripped over each other rushing to the cage. The dog, barking furiously, was about as damn cute as they get. His anxious barking was accompanied by an involuntary wag of the tail.
As we approached the cage, I saw, under his shaggy, filthy, matted coat the metal tags I had heard a few nights before. Steve and I carried the heavy trap with the dog swaying inside, staggering like drunks, clambering over raised concrete walkways, and freshly dug trenches, half laughing half crying and cursing each time the trap bashed one of our legs. There's a moment when a stray but domesticated dog, so savvy on the streets, so eager to avoid capture, just surrenders. It's the most incredible thing - but at that moment, he knows that he is safe. It's why people like me, decry the cruelty of many animal shelters where this trust is betrayed each day.
At the house, we carried the trap into the garage and shut the door.
I slowly opened the gate and slipped my hand in to put a leash around his neck and guide him out. He moved slowly from the trap, a look of exhaustion on his face. His coat was muddy, thick mats hung from all over him, foxtails, burrs, and sticks dangling, and his fur hung in his eyes. His collar, once blue, was tangled in the matted mess. Slowly, as he flinched less and less at each touch, I found the clasp and released it. A red metal heart tag clinked against a rabies tag. They were both unreadable. Steve raced upstairs to wash the tags, and when we thought we could read the number, I made the call. The dog, called Bernie according to his tag, had stretched out on a blanket, not running now. It was 8.30pm.
A woman answered. I said 'I'm calling about your dog, are you missing a dog?' The voice on the other end sounded weary, as if after a dozen false starts, she no longer allowed herself the excitement of thinking her dog may have been found. Finally, she understood. I had her dog. I had the collar with the red heart tag, and her phone number. In San Leandro, nearly 30 miles away, Pat and Doug and their family couldn't believe what they were hearing. 'I love that dog with all my heart'. Pat said. I replied, 'well, he's here and ready to go home'. I felt she still didn't believe me.
At 9.30 pm, Bernie Tucker was reunited with his family, his explosive joy reverberating around the small entryway as he leapt at them, as they sobbed and shook with wonderment. I asked 'How did he get away from you?'. He jumped out of the car', they said, 'in Oakland, the window was just a little too low, and for the first few days we got dozens of calls, and then nothing'.
Here's the kicker. Bernie hadn't been running loose for two months. Bernie went missing in January. Ten months later, one evening in October - as he, with the face of a sad lost dog, began another night of evading the cruelty of strangers and depending on the kindness of strangers - in the space of two hours - Bernie Tucker went home.
Source: Jill Posner's Blog
http://jillposener.blogs.com/jill_rants_and_raves/2007/10/the-sweet-tail-.html
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Peanut, a small blonde dog
A Dog Rescued & Returned to His Family
Lisa, ArkOnline
My husband and I were driving down Macadam Ave in Portland OR in September 1996. We were on our way from Lake Oswego to Portland one night at about 10 o'clock. We were almost to the edge of Lake Oswego when the traffic in front of us came to an abrupt stop. I was in the passenger seat, and all I could see was something in the middle of the street, which for some reason, I assumed was a cardboard box. As we started to pass by, the 'box' stood up and starting darting through the traffic.
Once I realized it was a dog who had been hit by a car, my husband stopped our car, I got out and started herding the dog off the road. Another car pulled off the road and called the Lake Oswego police to come and help rescue the pooch. I was finally able to get this very scared and frantic dog off the road, and to sit and stay in one place (wedged between the highway and a railroad track). The small, blonde 'American fence-jumper' was too afraid to let us come near him, so we just sat near him and tried to calm him down with our voices.
After about 30 minutes of sitting there alongside the busy road, a train approached, and seeing us sitting not more than six feet from the tracks, released the horn over and over and over again to warn us away.
VERY fortunately, the dog didn't budge. After another 30 minutes, with no sign of the police, I was able to get a nearby gas station to donate a bottle of water and a dog biscuit to our cause. We finally coaxed the dog into the back of our car and we took him home.
We found a name and phone number on his dog tag and phoned the owner. A woman answered the phone, we told her we found her dog, and she proceeded to ask us all sorts of seemingly irrelevant questions. She finally told us that the dog had been missing for two weeks and had traveled from deep in Southeast Portland (on the other side of the river!). Her husband had been up almost every night for the last two weeks searching and searching for the dog. Several prank phone callers had called with false leads, thinking it was a pretty funny joke to get the owner to jump in his car and drive several miles just to find his dog nowhere in sight. She was able to contact her husband and within 10 mins his car pulled up in front of our house.
'Peanut', as we later learned was the dog's name, was still sitting in the back of our car and his owner parked right behind us. As soon as he saw his dog, his head fell to his hands and he started crying uncontrollably. Peanut recognized the car and immediately began to wimper, yip, and jump up and down. They were obviously both VERY happy to see each other again after two weeks.
About a week later, we received a card in the mail from Peanut, complete with a picture and a really nice note, thanking us for saving him and reuniting him with his dad - Peanut's injuries from the car that hit him were very minor.
It still makes me really happy to think about that story.
Source: http://www.arkonline.com/lisa_rescue.html
Lisa, ArkOnline
My husband and I were driving down Macadam Ave in Portland OR in September 1996. We were on our way from Lake Oswego to Portland one night at about 10 o'clock. We were almost to the edge of Lake Oswego when the traffic in front of us came to an abrupt stop. I was in the passenger seat, and all I could see was something in the middle of the street, which for some reason, I assumed was a cardboard box. As we started to pass by, the 'box' stood up and starting darting through the traffic.
Once I realized it was a dog who had been hit by a car, my husband stopped our car, I got out and started herding the dog off the road. Another car pulled off the road and called the Lake Oswego police to come and help rescue the pooch. I was finally able to get this very scared and frantic dog off the road, and to sit and stay in one place (wedged between the highway and a railroad track). The small, blonde 'American fence-jumper' was too afraid to let us come near him, so we just sat near him and tried to calm him down with our voices.
After about 30 minutes of sitting there alongside the busy road, a train approached, and seeing us sitting not more than six feet from the tracks, released the horn over and over and over again to warn us away.
VERY fortunately, the dog didn't budge. After another 30 minutes, with no sign of the police, I was able to get a nearby gas station to donate a bottle of water and a dog biscuit to our cause. We finally coaxed the dog into the back of our car and we took him home.
We found a name and phone number on his dog tag and phoned the owner. A woman answered the phone, we told her we found her dog, and she proceeded to ask us all sorts of seemingly irrelevant questions. She finally told us that the dog had been missing for two weeks and had traveled from deep in Southeast Portland (on the other side of the river!). Her husband had been up almost every night for the last two weeks searching and searching for the dog. Several prank phone callers had called with false leads, thinking it was a pretty funny joke to get the owner to jump in his car and drive several miles just to find his dog nowhere in sight. She was able to contact her husband and within 10 mins his car pulled up in front of our house.
'Peanut', as we later learned was the dog's name, was still sitting in the back of our car and his owner parked right behind us. As soon as he saw his dog, his head fell to his hands and he started crying uncontrollably. Peanut recognized the car and immediately began to wimper, yip, and jump up and down. They were obviously both VERY happy to see each other again after two weeks.
About a week later, we received a card in the mail from Peanut, complete with a picture and a really nice note, thanking us for saving him and reuniting him with his dad - Peanut's injuries from the car that hit him were very minor.
It still makes me really happy to think about that story.
Source: http://www.arkonline.com/lisa_rescue.html
Monday, March 23, 2009
Lil Man & JD & Tik
Stranger's kindness reunites stolen dogs with grieving owner
Bob Ross, timespicayune.com
Posted March 19, 2009 08:29AM
The last thing Shoshana Rothschild worried about, as she stopped by her Uptown warehouse Monday morning, was the safety of her three dogs outside in her Chevy truck. Maybe no one would be scared by Little Man or Tik, both under 25 pounds, but J.D. was an impressive specimen -- a Doberman/St. Bernard mix, about 180 pounds. Yet in the few minutes Shoshana was inside the warehouse with sister Jamin, the pair heard the truck start up and drive off.
"My heart just dropped the second I heard my engine starting," Shoshana said. "I couldn't hear or think of anything else."
Since Hurricane Katrina, when her father moved out of town, it's just been Shoshana, 33, her sister and now her three dogs. "That's her family," said Jamin, 30, who works for a downtown hotel.
After first trying to chase down the thief, the sisters bumped into officials with Mutt Shack, an animal rescue group that came to town after Katrina. Officials with the group got the news out Monday to local TV stations, put together a $1,500 reward with the help of the Louisiana Humane Society, and Shoshana and Jamin waited and hoped. That's when Kermit Rhea of Shrewsbury came to the rescue.
Later Monday, Rhea went into his yard in the Jefferson community to get something from his truck. From there, he saw two dogs being attacked in the backyard of the empty home behind his. He recognized the strays doing the attacking as local dogs. But he had never before seen the other two dogs, which soon found their way to his front porch.
Both were wearing green parade beads and one -- nearly 200 pounds -- was bleeding from the side and appeared to have a type of collar that sends a shock if a dog gets out of its yard.
"I knew they had to (belong to) somebody," said Rhea, who works for a pest control company. "I am always working in people's yards and I know about those collars and invisible fences."
He called Jefferson Parish shelter officials and even helped workers get the third dog, which was hiding in nearby bushes, into the truck.
Then as he watched the TV news Tuesday, Rhea realized the dogs missing from New Orleans were the ones taken to the Eastbank Animal Shelter. The news report asked anyone with information on the case to call 911, which he did. He also called the television station to tell them where the dogs had been taken. He didn't learn of a reward until Wednesday.
"I really feel great," he said Wednesday evening. "But I didn't do it for the reward. I didn't even know there was one. I just didn't want to see those dogs hurt."
Jen Huber, assistant director of the animal shelter, said Rhea took the time to do the right thing.
"He saw the beads and obviously knew they are owned dogs," she said. "He was just a good Samaritan."
A reunion took place late Wednesday afternoon after Shoshana and her sister got a call from a television reporter who said their dogs apparently had been found. The recovery process was slowed because Shoshana no longer had her driver's license or other identification -- it was in the stolen truck.
"They were very, very, very happy, though Little Man let me know he was also upset," Shoshana said. "I feel great and this is all I ever wanted," she said of getting her family back.
The dogs all got a bath and new collars. On tap for Wednesday evening was a pajama party at Jamin's house and a special meal.
"We're going to order steak or pizza," Shoshana said. "Whatever they want. It's going to be a celebration."
Source: http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/strangers_kindness_reunites_st.html
Printer-friendly version HERE
Bob Ross, timespicayune.com
Posted March 19, 2009 08:29AM
Shoshana Rothschild was finally reunited with J.D., top right, Lil' Man, bottom left, and Tik, bottom right, after her car was stolen during Mardi Gras with the three dogs inside.
The last thing Shoshana Rothschild worried about, as she stopped by her Uptown warehouse Monday morning, was the safety of her three dogs outside in her Chevy truck. Maybe no one would be scared by Little Man or Tik, both under 25 pounds, but J.D. was an impressive specimen -- a Doberman/St. Bernard mix, about 180 pounds. Yet in the few minutes Shoshana was inside the warehouse with sister Jamin, the pair heard the truck start up and drive off.
"My heart just dropped the second I heard my engine starting," Shoshana said. "I couldn't hear or think of anything else."
Since Hurricane Katrina, when her father moved out of town, it's just been Shoshana, 33, her sister and now her three dogs. "That's her family," said Jamin, 30, who works for a downtown hotel.
After first trying to chase down the thief, the sisters bumped into officials with Mutt Shack, an animal rescue group that came to town after Katrina. Officials with the group got the news out Monday to local TV stations, put together a $1,500 reward with the help of the Louisiana Humane Society, and Shoshana and Jamin waited and hoped. That's when Kermit Rhea of Shrewsbury came to the rescue.
Later Monday, Rhea went into his yard in the Jefferson community to get something from his truck. From there, he saw two dogs being attacked in the backyard of the empty home behind his. He recognized the strays doing the attacking as local dogs. But he had never before seen the other two dogs, which soon found their way to his front porch.
Both were wearing green parade beads and one -- nearly 200 pounds -- was bleeding from the side and appeared to have a type of collar that sends a shock if a dog gets out of its yard.
"I knew they had to (belong to) somebody," said Rhea, who works for a pest control company. "I am always working in people's yards and I know about those collars and invisible fences."
He called Jefferson Parish shelter officials and even helped workers get the third dog, which was hiding in nearby bushes, into the truck.
Then as he watched the TV news Tuesday, Rhea realized the dogs missing from New Orleans were the ones taken to the Eastbank Animal Shelter. The news report asked anyone with information on the case to call 911, which he did. He also called the television station to tell them where the dogs had been taken. He didn't learn of a reward until Wednesday.
"I really feel great," he said Wednesday evening. "But I didn't do it for the reward. I didn't even know there was one. I just didn't want to see those dogs hurt."
Jen Huber, assistant director of the animal shelter, said Rhea took the time to do the right thing.
"He saw the beads and obviously knew they are owned dogs," she said. "He was just a good Samaritan."
A reunion took place late Wednesday afternoon after Shoshana and her sister got a call from a television reporter who said their dogs apparently had been found. The recovery process was slowed because Shoshana no longer had her driver's license or other identification -- it was in the stolen truck.
"They were very, very, very happy, though Little Man let me know he was also upset," Shoshana said. "I feel great and this is all I ever wanted," she said of getting her family back.
The dogs all got a bath and new collars. On tap for Wednesday evening was a pajama party at Jamin's house and a special meal.
"We're going to order steak or pizza," Shoshana said. "Whatever they want. It's going to be a celebration."
Source: http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/strangers_kindness_reunites_st.html
Printer-friendly version HERE
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tootsie, dachschund
Missing Dog Turns Up 5 Years Later, 350 Miles Away
Nov 23, 2008 11:36 pm US/Eastern
PITTSBURGH (CBS) ― After going missing from New Jersey five years ago, Tootsie was located in Wilkinsburg, Pa. and is about to be reunited with his family.
He was missing for five years and his family figured they'd never see him again, but on Monday, a little, lost dog will be reunited with his owners who live more than 350 miles away. When he was only 6-months-old, Tootsie disappeared from his family's gated yard in New Jersey. His family was heartbroken, but two weeks ago the dachshund was brought to the Animal Rescue League.
"Tootsie was found running as a stray in Wilkinsburg, Pa.," said Tifanie Tiberio, of the Animal Rescue League. All animals brought to the Rescue League are scanned for an implanted microchip and when Tootsie was scanned, it turns out that she had one.
Unfortunately, the shelter didn't get a response when they called the number on file. But that didn't stop them, they sent a letter to the dog's owner a few days later and they got a response.
"They didn't even put two and two together at first that we were talking about Tootsie until they asked us, 'Does the dog have a sixth toe on his back leg?' and We said, 'Yes,' and they said, 'Yeah, that's Tootsie, that's our dog.'" said Tiberio.
How Tootsie got to Pittsburgh remains a mystery, but that doesn't matter to employees at the Animal Rescue League, but they said they are excited to be a part of a reunion five years in the making.
"We are honored as representatives of the animal world here at the Animal Rescue League to be able to reunite this lost animal with his owners," Tiberio added. The family says they're grateful to the Animal Rescue League for finding the dog they will be reunited tomorrow in Harrisburg.
Local Coverage From KDKA-TV
http://wcbstv.com/watercooler/Tootsie.found.reunited.2.872056.html
Another version of the story -
Dog Reunited with Family 5 Years Later
reporter: Cara Moore; posted by: Bryan Peach
posted 6:21 pm Mon November 24, 2008
Harrisburg, Pa. - If Tootsie could talk, what a tale he'd tell.
Stolen as a puppy from the comfort of his yard in Pleasantville, New Jersey, Tootsie's family thought they'd never see him again.
"We just kind of gave up a month and a half later," says 18-year-old Edna Marie Colon. But Tootsie's family was in for a big surprise.
Five years later, they got a message from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. Tootsie was found - wandering the streets of Pittsburgh.
"As is the case with all animals, we scan for a microchip," said League spokesperson Tifanie Tiberio. "A microchip number was found and the address and phone number came back to a family in New Jersey."
At first, the family couldn't believe it. Could it really be their little daschund, Tootsie, some 360 miles away?
"They said, 'Does it have an extra toe on its back foot?,' and we said 'Yeah, it does,' and they said, 'That's tootsie, that's our dog,'" recalls Tiberio.
So they decided to meet halfway in Harrisburg, about three hours away from Tootsie's home in New Jersey, for the special reunion.
"It's something that very rarely, if ever, happens," Tiberio says of a reunion like this. "All of my research I've done, and talking to the National Lost Dog Registry, this is a one-in-a-million kind of thing."
Elba Arguello calls Tootsie her baby, and couldn't believe her eyes when she finally saw him.
"I'm gonna buy a sweater for him - for Christmas and Thanksgiving," Arguello said with a smile.
No one knows where Tootsie's been, or how he ended up in Western Pennsylvania. All that matters now is where Tootsie is going - and that's finally back home.
"There's a lot of people waiting for him in Pleasantville," said Arguello.
Source: http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/1108/572599.html
Nov 23, 2008 11:36 pm US/Eastern
PITTSBURGH (CBS) ― After going missing from New Jersey five years ago, Tootsie was located in Wilkinsburg, Pa. and is about to be reunited with his family.
He was missing for five years and his family figured they'd never see him again, but on Monday, a little, lost dog will be reunited with his owners who live more than 350 miles away. When he was only 6-months-old, Tootsie disappeared from his family's gated yard in New Jersey. His family was heartbroken, but two weeks ago the dachshund was brought to the Animal Rescue League.
"Tootsie was found running as a stray in Wilkinsburg, Pa.," said Tifanie Tiberio, of the Animal Rescue League. All animals brought to the Rescue League are scanned for an implanted microchip and when Tootsie was scanned, it turns out that she had one.
Unfortunately, the shelter didn't get a response when they called the number on file. But that didn't stop them, they sent a letter to the dog's owner a few days later and they got a response.
"They didn't even put two and two together at first that we were talking about Tootsie until they asked us, 'Does the dog have a sixth toe on his back leg?' and We said, 'Yes,' and they said, 'Yeah, that's Tootsie, that's our dog.'" said Tiberio.
How Tootsie got to Pittsburgh remains a mystery, but that doesn't matter to employees at the Animal Rescue League, but they said they are excited to be a part of a reunion five years in the making.
"We are honored as representatives of the animal world here at the Animal Rescue League to be able to reunite this lost animal with his owners," Tiberio added. The family says they're grateful to the Animal Rescue League for finding the dog they will be reunited tomorrow in Harrisburg.
Local Coverage From KDKA-TV
http://wcbstv.com/watercooler/Tootsie.found.reunited.2.872056.html
Another version of the story -
Dog Reunited with Family 5 Years Later
reporter: Cara Moore; posted by: Bryan Peach
posted 6:21 pm Mon November 24, 2008
Harrisburg, Pa. - If Tootsie could talk, what a tale he'd tell.
Stolen as a puppy from the comfort of his yard in Pleasantville, New Jersey, Tootsie's family thought they'd never see him again.
"We just kind of gave up a month and a half later," says 18-year-old Edna Marie Colon. But Tootsie's family was in for a big surprise.
Five years later, they got a message from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. Tootsie was found - wandering the streets of Pittsburgh.
"As is the case with all animals, we scan for a microchip," said League spokesperson Tifanie Tiberio. "A microchip number was found and the address and phone number came back to a family in New Jersey."
At first, the family couldn't believe it. Could it really be their little daschund, Tootsie, some 360 miles away?
"They said, 'Does it have an extra toe on its back foot?,' and we said 'Yeah, it does,' and they said, 'That's tootsie, that's our dog,'" recalls Tiberio.
So they decided to meet halfway in Harrisburg, about three hours away from Tootsie's home in New Jersey, for the special reunion.
"It's something that very rarely, if ever, happens," Tiberio says of a reunion like this. "All of my research I've done, and talking to the National Lost Dog Registry, this is a one-in-a-million kind of thing."
Elba Arguello calls Tootsie her baby, and couldn't believe her eyes when she finally saw him.
"I'm gonna buy a sweater for him - for Christmas and Thanksgiving," Arguello said with a smile.
No one knows where Tootsie's been, or how he ended up in Western Pennsylvania. All that matters now is where Tootsie is going - and that's finally back home.
"There's a lot of people waiting for him in Pleasantville," said Arguello.
Source: http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/1108/572599.html
Friday, March 20, 2009
Mugsey, English bulldog
Mugsey, English Bulldog
Friday, March 20, 2009
MUGSEY IS HOME!! 5 weeks, 11 hours later, our beloved Mugsey is home. I will blog tomorrow with the details but wanted to immediately share our joy. Thank you all for your love, prayers and continual support!!! Posted by Susan
Saturday, March 21, 2009
MUGSEY'S HOMECOMING
Yes, after 5 weeks, 11 hours and
thousands of emails,
hundreds of flyer's,
a dozen posters,
blogging,
twittering,
praying,
hoping,
wishing,
crying,
craiglists postings,
following many false leads,
joining 10 local area dog clubs,
faxing and calling dozens upon dozens of veterinarians, dog rescue groups and shelters,
being on channel 9 news,
being on HOT 99.5 The Kane Radio Show,
getting an article with Mugsey's picture in The Gazette,
driving,
walking,
searching,
stalking,
spying
and many other crazy/desperate antics I won't mention.......
MUGSEY IS FINALLY HOME!!!!!
Friday night, March 20, 2009 at approximately 9:30 PM, Mark, Amy and Katie pulled up to their house. As they were walking to their front door, a couple in a black SUV got out of their vehicle and said "We think we have your dog".
After so many disappointments, Mark and Amy were skeptical. At that point the couple opened the back of their car and out jumped Mugsey. Mugsey, Mark, Amy and Katie were beside themselves!!
The story the couple had was that they were from North Carolina visiting her mother. They had been walking around Gunners Lake in Germantown, MD Friday afternoon when Mugsey wandered up to them. Apparently they took Mugsey to the mothers house and while talking with their cousin, the cousin stated she had seen a flyer in the Hunan Best Restaurant window in Flower Hill about a missing bulldog. The couple went online, found Mugsey's blog and there they were.
Mark and Amy were so thrilled they did not even think to ask questions.
Mark, Amy, Katie and their three dogs then ran over to my house. When I opened the front door, it took me a moment to realize that I was actually seeing Mugsey. Then tears, screaming, laughing, kissing and hugging ensued. What a wonderful, joyful and amazing moment!!
When Mark, Amy and Katie got back home, Katie looked up to her parents and said "We are finally a family again!"
Yes, we have many questions that will most likely never be answered (such as; why didn't the couple call, how did they get the address, where has Mugsey been for 5 weeks, who actually took him, why was he taken, etc. etc.) but we are just thrilled to have Mugsey home with his family where he belongs.
Amy and Katie took Mugsey to their veterinarian this morning. Mugsey has lost 5 pounds but otherwise appears to be in good health. And yes, he was microchipped today!
Tonight Mark to Mugsey to PetSmart to take down his missing dog poster and to get him a new collar and name tag along with some new toys and a new dog bed.
We want to thank each and every one of you for your love, support and prayers- Thank God for people like you and THANK GOD MUGSEY IS HOME!!
Posted by Susan
Source: Susan's blog at http://findmugsey.blogspot.com
Friday, March 20, 2009
MUGSEY IS HOME!! 5 weeks, 11 hours later, our beloved Mugsey is home. I will blog tomorrow with the details but wanted to immediately share our joy. Thank you all for your love, prayers and continual support!!! Posted by Susan
Saturday, March 21, 2009
MUGSEY'S HOMECOMING
Yes, after 5 weeks, 11 hours and
thousands of emails,
hundreds of flyer's,
a dozen posters,
blogging,
twittering,
praying,
hoping,
wishing,
crying,
craiglists postings,
following many false leads,
joining 10 local area dog clubs,
faxing and calling dozens upon dozens of veterinarians, dog rescue groups and shelters,
being on channel 9 news,
being on HOT 99.5 The Kane Radio Show,
getting an article with Mugsey's picture in The Gazette,
driving,
walking,
searching,
stalking,
spying
and many other crazy/desperate antics I won't mention.......
MUGSEY IS FINALLY HOME!!!!!
Friday night, March 20, 2009 at approximately 9:30 PM, Mark, Amy and Katie pulled up to their house. As they were walking to their front door, a couple in a black SUV got out of their vehicle and said "We think we have your dog".
After so many disappointments, Mark and Amy were skeptical. At that point the couple opened the back of their car and out jumped Mugsey. Mugsey, Mark, Amy and Katie were beside themselves!!
The story the couple had was that they were from North Carolina visiting her mother. They had been walking around Gunners Lake in Germantown, MD Friday afternoon when Mugsey wandered up to them. Apparently they took Mugsey to the mothers house and while talking with their cousin, the cousin stated she had seen a flyer in the Hunan Best Restaurant window in Flower Hill about a missing bulldog. The couple went online, found Mugsey's blog and there they were.
Mark and Amy were so thrilled they did not even think to ask questions.
Mark, Amy, Katie and their three dogs then ran over to my house. When I opened the front door, it took me a moment to realize that I was actually seeing Mugsey. Then tears, screaming, laughing, kissing and hugging ensued. What a wonderful, joyful and amazing moment!!
When Mark, Amy and Katie got back home, Katie looked up to her parents and said "We are finally a family again!"
Yes, we have many questions that will most likely never be answered (such as; why didn't the couple call, how did they get the address, where has Mugsey been for 5 weeks, who actually took him, why was he taken, etc. etc.) but we are just thrilled to have Mugsey home with his family where he belongs.
Amy and Katie took Mugsey to their veterinarian this morning. Mugsey has lost 5 pounds but otherwise appears to be in good health. And yes, he was microchipped today!
Tonight Mark to Mugsey to PetSmart to take down his missing dog poster and to get him a new collar and name tag along with some new toys and a new dog bed.
We want to thank each and every one of you for your love, support and prayers- Thank God for people like you and THANK GOD MUGSEY IS HOME!!
Posted by Susan
Source: Susan's blog at http://findmugsey.blogspot.com
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Rusty, Golden Retriever
Family pet returns five years later thanks to microchip
D Gilbert, Gainesville Times
Andrew Gomez pets his dog Rusty. The dog was recently returned to the Gomez family after going missing for five years. A vet in Atlanta found a microchip on the dog and contacted the Gomez family.
A Gainesville family who lost their dog five years ago was recently reunited with their pet, thanks to an identification device implanted under his skin.
The first weekend in June, Audrey Gomez got a call from someone at Fulton County Animal Services, informing her that they had her golden retriever, Rusty.
"I was surprised," she said. "I didn’t think we would ever get him back."
Audrey Gomez and her husband Albeiro purchased Rusty from a pet shop seven years ago, when they were living in Powder Springs. They were told that the puppy had been microchipped, but they didn’t give it much thought.
Two years later, the family moved to Douglasville. They had only been in their new house a couple of weeks when Rusty, who was unfamiliar with the neighborhood, disappeared.
"We put fliers around, advertised for a reward. No one called," Gomez said.
At the time, their son Andrew was 6 years old, and Gomez was pregnant with their second son, Anthony.
After a while, the family gave up hope of ever seeing Rusty again. But for some reason Gomez hung on to the registration documents she had signed when they bought Rusty.
"I was going to throw away those papers, but a friend told me to keep them, just in case," she said.
About 18 months ago, the Gomez family moved to the Gainesville area. They were thinking about getting another pet, and a friend gave them a pair of puppies, two female miniature dachshunds. The hyperactive little dogs are a lot of fun, said Gomez, but she missed Rusty’s calm, sweet demeanor.
In early June, someone in College Park called Fulton County Animal Services to report a stray golden retriever running loose. When the dog was brought in to the county animal shelter on Marietta Boulevard, an employee waved an electronic scanner over him to check for the presence of a microchip. Scanning is now done routinely on every animal brought in to most shelters in metro Atlanta, including in Hall County. In the vast majority of cases, the scanner doesn’t find a chip. But when Rusty was scanned, the test came up positive. This allowed the Fulton shelter to contact the microchip company, which tapped into its database to find information on the dog’s owner. Though the Gomez family had moved, the database still had the phone number for Audrey Gomez’s workplace.
On Sunday afternoon, June 8, the family drove down to Atlanta to meet their long-lost dog.
"He recognized us," Gomez said. "He still knew his name. He remembered the obedience commands he learned when he was a puppy."
If Rusty could talk, he’d probably have quite a story to tell. No one will ever know exactly how or where he spent the past five years. But it was obvious that someone had been taking care of him. He wasn’t underweight, and his coat wasn’t matted. Just to be sure, Gomez took him to a veterinarian the following day for a thorough checkup. She said he’s doing well for a dog his age, and he’s learning to get along with the dachshunds.
"They were a little jealous at first. Now they chase him around," she said.
Rusty’s safe return was made possible by the American Kennel Club’s Companion Animal Recovery program, one of several national microchip registries. Daisy Okas, spokeswoman for the AKC, said Rusty’s story is unusual, but not unheard of.
"We’ve had several cases where a dog was lost for years," she said. Okas said there are still a lot of misconceptions about microchipping.
"People think it’s like a GPS or something," she said. But the idea is catching on, especially since many breeders and humane societies are including microchipping in the price of adopting an animal. Typically the painless procedure costs $40 or $50, plus an enrollment fee, though some vets offer discounts. Jere Alexander, director of Fulton County Animal Services, said microchipping is a wise investment.
"It seems crazy not to microchip your animal, because they can’t tell you where they live (if they get lost)," she said.
Alexander said the Fulton shelter has returned microchipped pets to their owners before. "But usually it’s a matter of days or weeks, never after five years had passed," she said. "We’ve not seen anything like that before. Everybody was kind of shocked."
To Gomez, it’s amazing to watch Rusty interact with her youngest son Anthony, who wasn’t even born when Rusty disappeared.
"He’s such a friendly dog. We’re so happy to have him again," she said. "He’s a good boy."
Source: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/archive/6470
D Gilbert, Gainesville Times
Andrew Gomez pets his dog Rusty. The dog was recently returned to the Gomez family after going missing for five years. A vet in Atlanta found a microchip on the dog and contacted the Gomez family.
You could call it a microchip miracle.
A Gainesville family who lost their dog five years ago was recently reunited with their pet, thanks to an identification device implanted under his skin.
The first weekend in June, Audrey Gomez got a call from someone at Fulton County Animal Services, informing her that they had her golden retriever, Rusty.
"I was surprised," she said. "I didn’t think we would ever get him back."
Audrey Gomez and her husband Albeiro purchased Rusty from a pet shop seven years ago, when they were living in Powder Springs. They were told that the puppy had been microchipped, but they didn’t give it much thought.
Two years later, the family moved to Douglasville. They had only been in their new house a couple of weeks when Rusty, who was unfamiliar with the neighborhood, disappeared.
"We put fliers around, advertised for a reward. No one called," Gomez said.
At the time, their son Andrew was 6 years old, and Gomez was pregnant with their second son, Anthony.
After a while, the family gave up hope of ever seeing Rusty again. But for some reason Gomez hung on to the registration documents she had signed when they bought Rusty.
"I was going to throw away those papers, but a friend told me to keep them, just in case," she said.
About 18 months ago, the Gomez family moved to the Gainesville area. They were thinking about getting another pet, and a friend gave them a pair of puppies, two female miniature dachshunds. The hyperactive little dogs are a lot of fun, said Gomez, but she missed Rusty’s calm, sweet demeanor.
In early June, someone in College Park called Fulton County Animal Services to report a stray golden retriever running loose. When the dog was brought in to the county animal shelter on Marietta Boulevard, an employee waved an electronic scanner over him to check for the presence of a microchip. Scanning is now done routinely on every animal brought in to most shelters in metro Atlanta, including in Hall County. In the vast majority of cases, the scanner doesn’t find a chip. But when Rusty was scanned, the test came up positive. This allowed the Fulton shelter to contact the microchip company, which tapped into its database to find information on the dog’s owner. Though the Gomez family had moved, the database still had the phone number for Audrey Gomez’s workplace.
On Sunday afternoon, June 8, the family drove down to Atlanta to meet their long-lost dog.
"He recognized us," Gomez said. "He still knew his name. He remembered the obedience commands he learned when he was a puppy."
If Rusty could talk, he’d probably have quite a story to tell. No one will ever know exactly how or where he spent the past five years. But it was obvious that someone had been taking care of him. He wasn’t underweight, and his coat wasn’t matted. Just to be sure, Gomez took him to a veterinarian the following day for a thorough checkup. She said he’s doing well for a dog his age, and he’s learning to get along with the dachshunds.
"They were a little jealous at first. Now they chase him around," she said.
Rusty’s safe return was made possible by the American Kennel Club’s Companion Animal Recovery program, one of several national microchip registries. Daisy Okas, spokeswoman for the AKC, said Rusty’s story is unusual, but not unheard of.
"We’ve had several cases where a dog was lost for years," she said. Okas said there are still a lot of misconceptions about microchipping.
"People think it’s like a GPS or something," she said. But the idea is catching on, especially since many breeders and humane societies are including microchipping in the price of adopting an animal. Typically the painless procedure costs $40 or $50, plus an enrollment fee, though some vets offer discounts. Jere Alexander, director of Fulton County Animal Services, said microchipping is a wise investment.
"It seems crazy not to microchip your animal, because they can’t tell you where they live (if they get lost)," she said.
Alexander said the Fulton shelter has returned microchipped pets to their owners before. "But usually it’s a matter of days or weeks, never after five years had passed," she said. "We’ve not seen anything like that before. Everybody was kind of shocked."
To Gomez, it’s amazing to watch Rusty interact with her youngest son Anthony, who wasn’t even born when Rusty disappeared.
"He’s such a friendly dog. We’re so happy to have him again," she said. "He’s a good boy."
Source: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/archive/6470
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tucker, shih tzu-American Eskimo
Man’s search for beloved pet pays off
Crystal Rhyno - Herald-Tribune staff
Six weeks after his dog Tucker went missing, a Bonanza-area man’s relentless search ended Monday when a man returned Tucker and claimed a $10,000 reward.
The Bonanza resident who put up an astounding $10,000 reward for his missing pooch was reunited with his dog, Tucker, Monday afternoon.
Lance Hingley, 54, said he got his life back when Tucker jumped into his arms after he handed over the reward to the man whom he believes snatched his 15-month-old dog.
“I am so happy,” he said. “When I put that reward up of $10,000, I said it would be anonymous. I am not going to give the man’s name out. He’s going to have to live with that.”
Two days before Christmas, the miniature Shi Tzu-American Eskimo went missing near Dawson Creek, B.C., when Hingley, a bulk fuel agent, had stopped for a quick bite to eat.
Since losing his beloved pet, Hingley launched a mind-boggling search and rescue quest, including creating a missing dog website and Facebook groups, to track down his abducted dog.
Missing dog posters were plastered all over the B.C. interior, from Kamloops to the Peace Country.
“I just wanted my dog back,” said Hingley, who travels quite frequently with his work.
On Jan.30, he was in Kamloops putting up posters when he received a tip from a caller.
The caller said he had Tucker. Hingley said the caller described Tucker to a “T” so Hingley got his hopes up. When he asked where the caller was, the line went dead.
Hingley redialed the number from his call display on his phone but the number came up private.
Through a little detective work, including some research on the Internet, Hingley learned the call originated from a phone booth at an Esso station in Peace River.
Monday morning, Hingley headed to Peace River and plastered the small town with more posters.
At 11:40 a.m., he received another call from the same man.
“I said, ‘hey buddy, you don’t hang up this phone. You need to talk to me.’ ”
Hingley told the man Tucker was one of his kids and he wanted his dog back. The man agreed to hand over the dog for the reward. They met a few hours later at the Dunvegan Inn in Fairview.
“I gave him the money and I took my dog,” said Hingley, who estimates he spent up to $25,000 in the search for Tucker.
“He told me he had been sleeping at the weigh scales and woke up to a dog whining. He opened the door and it was Tucker.”
Hingley said Tucker had jumped in the man’s truck because the temperatures were hovering below -40C. The man told Hingley he thought the dog was abandoned.
“His excuse was someone was not looking after him so he kept him but finally returned him for the money.”
Hingley said he will not call the police.
“I am a man of my word and I got what I wanted,” said Hingley. “He needs to sleep at night. That’s up to him.”
Hingley hopes the dog napper will donate half of the reward to SPCA in Tucker’s name.
Source: http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1420059
Another version of the story at:
Crystal Rhyno - Herald-Tribune staff
Six weeks after his dog Tucker went missing, a Bonanza-area man’s relentless search ended Monday when a man returned Tucker and claimed a $10,000 reward.
The Bonanza resident who put up an astounding $10,000 reward for his missing pooch was reunited with his dog, Tucker, Monday afternoon.
Lance Hingley, 54, said he got his life back when Tucker jumped into his arms after he handed over the reward to the man whom he believes snatched his 15-month-old dog.
“I am so happy,” he said. “When I put that reward up of $10,000, I said it would be anonymous. I am not going to give the man’s name out. He’s going to have to live with that.”
Two days before Christmas, the miniature Shi Tzu-American Eskimo went missing near Dawson Creek, B.C., when Hingley, a bulk fuel agent, had stopped for a quick bite to eat.
Since losing his beloved pet, Hingley launched a mind-boggling search and rescue quest, including creating a missing dog website and Facebook groups, to track down his abducted dog.
Missing dog posters were plastered all over the B.C. interior, from Kamloops to the Peace Country.
“I just wanted my dog back,” said Hingley, who travels quite frequently with his work.
On Jan.30, he was in Kamloops putting up posters when he received a tip from a caller.
The caller said he had Tucker. Hingley said the caller described Tucker to a “T” so Hingley got his hopes up. When he asked where the caller was, the line went dead.
Hingley redialed the number from his call display on his phone but the number came up private.
Through a little detective work, including some research on the Internet, Hingley learned the call originated from a phone booth at an Esso station in Peace River.
Monday morning, Hingley headed to Peace River and plastered the small town with more posters.
At 11:40 a.m., he received another call from the same man.
“I said, ‘hey buddy, you don’t hang up this phone. You need to talk to me.’ ”
Hingley told the man Tucker was one of his kids and he wanted his dog back. The man agreed to hand over the dog for the reward. They met a few hours later at the Dunvegan Inn in Fairview.
“I gave him the money and I took my dog,” said Hingley, who estimates he spent up to $25,000 in the search for Tucker.
“He told me he had been sleeping at the weigh scales and woke up to a dog whining. He opened the door and it was Tucker.”
Hingley said Tucker had jumped in the man’s truck because the temperatures were hovering below -40C. The man told Hingley he thought the dog was abandoned.
“His excuse was someone was not looking after him so he kept him but finally returned him for the money.”
Hingley said he will not call the police.
“I am a man of my word and I got what I wanted,” said Hingley. “He needs to sleep at night. That’s up to him.”
Hingley hopes the dog napper will donate half of the reward to SPCA in Tucker’s name.
Source: http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1420059
Another version of the story at:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/2009/02/03/pf-8253866.html
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Molly, Miniature Poodle
Sweet story here. Well, it has a nasty neighbor early in the story. I love how little Molly's mom surprised the boy with Molly's return. Enjoy the story.
Trucker Helps Return Lucky Pup to Her Anxious Family
By Jessica Farrish/Register-Herald Reporter
7-6-2004
Molly's journey home from Sandstone Mountain is a fairy tale from nose to tail.
The miniature poodle tunneled out of her backyard, got tossed into a shed, was abandoned at a gas station, dodged busy interstate traffic, befriended a kind truck driver, got rescued and joyously returned to her favorite person - 13-year-old Corey Lilly of Shady Spring.
"It is quite a story," remarked Molly's owner and "mom," Janie Lilly. " Just because of everything else that's been going on in the world that's so depressing, this is just to show the good in people. It was truly a miracle. I cannot believe that we got her back."
Molly's saga began June 11 when Lilly left for work and Corey put the puppy in the backyard to play. Pushing her nose through a loose spot, Molly wriggled out of her own backyard and into the yard of a neighbor in The Oaks, a subdivision just off Interstate 64 in Raleigh County. When Molly didn't answer Corey's call to come back inside, the teen rode his bike through the neighborhood, looking for her.
A group of men working nearby told Corey a man who had recently moved into The Oaks had carried a little dog to where they working earlier that morning and had asked if she belonged to one of them. When they said no, he reportedly "grabbed Molly by her neck and then threw her into an outdoor storage shed connected to his house," the workers told Lilly. Frantic, Corey rode home and called his mom at her Glade Springs office. Corey tried to talk to the neighbor who allegedly took the dog, but he wouldn't come out, Lilly said.
By the time she found his residence, the man had already left for a camping trip. Lilly left a message at the campground for the man to call her, and when the phone rang later that day, the family hoped it meant good news. Instead, the man told them Molly had scared his little girl and that he'd driven the dog to a gas station near The Oaks and put the dog out of his truck.
While Lilly was searching for Molly, Donnie Blackburn of Ronceverte was underneath his tractor-trailer at the brake check area on Sandstone Mountain adjusting his brakes when a tug on his pants leg caused him to rise up suddenly and bump his head. The Greenbrier County trucker slid out from under the rig and saw "this little dog that just jumped on my leg. I brought it home; my wife gave it a bath," Blackburn said. "I wasn't going to leave it out there to get run over."
The Blackburns called the foundling "Little Bit" because she was just a "little bit of a dog" and - much to the dismay of their own indoor dog - they decided to keep Little Bit at their house over the weekend. They decided to wait until Monday to take her to the Greenbrier County animal shelter in Lewisburg.
Meanwhile, neighbors at The Oaks banded together and put up missing dog posters around the neighborhood. "Everybody went out looking for her," Lilly said. "A lot of people helped us out. They were wonderful."
The first big tip about Molly's whereabouts seemed dreadful: A man told Lilly Molly had been near the Bragg exit on I-64 on Friday morning - where vehicles whiz by at 70 miles per hour. Lilly began to doubt she would ever see the beloved pet again, but she posted a picture of Molly at the Sandstone Mountain brake check station, near the Bragg exit, that afternoon.
Monday morning, Blackburn rolled into the brake check station with Little Bit sitting beside him and spotted a missing dog poster. The face was definitely familiar.
"Molly was the name on the poster," he recalled. "I turned to Little Bit and called her 'Molly.' Immediately, her little ears perked up, and that little tail started wagging."
Lilly was at work when she received Blackburn's call at 7 a.m. saying he'd found Molly." As soon as I started pulling in the Texaco, I could see the trucker," Lilly said. "He was kind of a tough, rugged, 18-wheeler driver, and he was holding Molly up close to his face."
Corey wasn't out of bed yet when Lilly sneaked Molly into the house." I hadn't told him about Blackburn calling because I was afraid to give him false hope if the dog wasn't Molly," she said.
"I took her home and opened the door and let her run upstairs." Molly headed straight to Corey's room and jumped on his bed, waking him up with "kisses" to his face."I don't know who was more excited - Molly or Corey," Lilly said. "Neither one could have been happier
Source: WV Pet Pages - http://www.wvpetpages.com/raleigh_county_news.htm
Trucker Helps Return Lucky Pup to Her Anxious Family
By Jessica Farrish/Register-Herald Reporter
7-6-2004
Molly's journey home from Sandstone Mountain is a fairy tale from nose to tail.
The miniature poodle tunneled out of her backyard, got tossed into a shed, was abandoned at a gas station, dodged busy interstate traffic, befriended a kind truck driver, got rescued and joyously returned to her favorite person - 13-year-old Corey Lilly of Shady Spring.
"It is quite a story," remarked Molly's owner and "mom," Janie Lilly. " Just because of everything else that's been going on in the world that's so depressing, this is just to show the good in people. It was truly a miracle. I cannot believe that we got her back."
Molly's saga began June 11 when Lilly left for work and Corey put the puppy in the backyard to play. Pushing her nose through a loose spot, Molly wriggled out of her own backyard and into the yard of a neighbor in The Oaks, a subdivision just off Interstate 64 in Raleigh County. When Molly didn't answer Corey's call to come back inside, the teen rode his bike through the neighborhood, looking for her.
A group of men working nearby told Corey a man who had recently moved into The Oaks had carried a little dog to where they working earlier that morning and had asked if she belonged to one of them. When they said no, he reportedly "grabbed Molly by her neck and then threw her into an outdoor storage shed connected to his house," the workers told Lilly. Frantic, Corey rode home and called his mom at her Glade Springs office. Corey tried to talk to the neighbor who allegedly took the dog, but he wouldn't come out, Lilly said.
By the time she found his residence, the man had already left for a camping trip. Lilly left a message at the campground for the man to call her, and when the phone rang later that day, the family hoped it meant good news. Instead, the man told them Molly had scared his little girl and that he'd driven the dog to a gas station near The Oaks and put the dog out of his truck.
While Lilly was searching for Molly, Donnie Blackburn of Ronceverte was underneath his tractor-trailer at the brake check area on Sandstone Mountain adjusting his brakes when a tug on his pants leg caused him to rise up suddenly and bump his head. The Greenbrier County trucker slid out from under the rig and saw "this little dog that just jumped on my leg. I brought it home; my wife gave it a bath," Blackburn said. "I wasn't going to leave it out there to get run over."
The Blackburns called the foundling "Little Bit" because she was just a "little bit of a dog" and - much to the dismay of their own indoor dog - they decided to keep Little Bit at their house over the weekend. They decided to wait until Monday to take her to the Greenbrier County animal shelter in Lewisburg.
Meanwhile, neighbors at The Oaks banded together and put up missing dog posters around the neighborhood. "Everybody went out looking for her," Lilly said. "A lot of people helped us out. They were wonderful."
The first big tip about Molly's whereabouts seemed dreadful: A man told Lilly Molly had been near the Bragg exit on I-64 on Friday morning - where vehicles whiz by at 70 miles per hour. Lilly began to doubt she would ever see the beloved pet again, but she posted a picture of Molly at the Sandstone Mountain brake check station, near the Bragg exit, that afternoon.
Monday morning, Blackburn rolled into the brake check station with Little Bit sitting beside him and spotted a missing dog poster. The face was definitely familiar.
"Molly was the name on the poster," he recalled. "I turned to Little Bit and called her 'Molly.' Immediately, her little ears perked up, and that little tail started wagging."
Lilly was at work when she received Blackburn's call at 7 a.m. saying he'd found Molly." As soon as I started pulling in the Texaco, I could see the trucker," Lilly said. "He was kind of a tough, rugged, 18-wheeler driver, and he was holding Molly up close to his face."
Corey wasn't out of bed yet when Lilly sneaked Molly into the house." I hadn't told him about Blackburn calling because I was afraid to give him false hope if the dog wasn't Molly," she said.
"I took her home and opened the door and let her run upstairs." Molly headed straight to Corey's room and jumped on his bed, waking him up with "kisses" to his face."I don't know who was more excited - Molly or Corey," Lilly said. "Neither one could have been happier
Source: WV Pet Pages - http://www.wvpetpages.com/raleigh_county_news.htm
Monday, March 16, 2009
Nigel, sled dog
Out of Iditarod, Yoshida reunited with her missing sled dog, Nigel
By Ryan Bakken, Grand Forks Herald
March 13 2009
Nancy Yoshida’s lost dog, Nigel, has been reunited with the musher and her team. Nigel, one of the 16 sled dogs in Nancy Yoshida’s team at the Iditarod, was rescued Friday afternoon after running loose in the wild for more than three days.
Like Lassie, Nigel has come home.
Nigel, one of the 16 sled dogs in Nancy Yoshida’s team at the Iditarod, was rescued Friday afternoon after running loose in the wild for more than three days.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am,” Yoshida said. “It’s such a huge relief.
“Not getting him back would have been my worst nightmare. I would have been devastated to lose an amazing animal like that.”
Yoshida praised the “Iditarod family” for his recapture. The male Alaskan Husky was spotted by a three-person search party on snowmobiles. Chris, Sara and Miranda Poynter, owners of a nearby lodge, were able to coax Nigel to them.
“It was the female voices of Sara and Miranda that did it,” Yoshida said. “The guys who tried to get him earlier scared him away.”
They radioed Yoshida, who then hopped on a Piper Cub airplane to the site from Willow, Alaska, where the race started. The plane landed, and Yoshida and dog soon shared a happy reunion.
“Nigel was absolutely thrilled to see me,” she said. “I said his name, and he came right up to me and gave me a kiss.”
The dog ran away early Tuesday after being unhooked from the sled as Yoshida went down a gorge.
While heartened by his return, the 58-year-old musher from Thompson, N.D., felt bad for her other 15 dogs.
“All that time and energy and training these dogs have gone through, and they don’t get to go to Nome,” she said, choking up. “Look what they’ve gone through to run that race.”
She could have been talking about herself. She has undergone rigorous training for several years with the Iditarod in mind. She and her dogs moved their training to Alaska in late October.
But she broke one of her sled’s two runners, resulting in a crash as she was traveling down a gorge. She was stuck there on the trail for almost 24 hours before, with the help of other mushers, she was able to get her dogs and sled organized to go down the steep slope and negotiate the final eight miles to the next checkpoint.
“If I don’t get to try this again, at least I’ll be just one of a handful of people who have ridden eight miles on one runner,” she said.
Mushers aren’t allowed to continue if a dog is lost. Even if Nigel had returned earlier, she wouldn’t have been able to continue because low cloud cover prevented a replacement sled from being flown to the checkpoint. She withdrew late Tuesday after going 136 of the 1,151 miles.
Heavy snows and warm temperatures made for a difficult trail. “The snow is so soft, so wet and so deep that you get huge ruts in the trail,” she said. “You fall into a rut, and it rolls you, like what happened to me doing down the slope.
“I’m so disappointed. The dogs were doing great, and we were right on schedule.” With Nigel safe, Yoshida will fly into Nome to witness the finish. She remains uncertain if she will give the Iditarod a second try.
“I would love to try it again, but it’s so expensive,” she said. “I’d love to try it where everything could hang together.”
Source: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/110529
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Amy, Boxer
Family drives 5,000 miles to find lost dog--
By Chris Brooke
10/8/98
WHEN Jennifer Kirkwood's beloved boxer dog was stolen she was determined to move heaven and earth to find her again.
Now, two months later, the mother of two has been reunited with her pet Amy after an exhaustive 5,000-mile search costing around $2,000.
A delighted Mrs Kirkwood said: 'We are so pleased to have her back. You can't believe how relieved we are - we have loved her since she was a puppy.'
The hunt began in August when Amy was taken from outside a shop. Police found that a teenage girl had been seen with the dog but had no other clues.
While others gave up hope that the pet could ever be traced, 53-year-old Mrs Kirkwood set out to track her down.
She and her family spent every spare hour driving along lanes and roads within a 20-mile radius of their home in Hessle, East Yorkshire. Mrs Kirkwood clocked up 2,100 miles, while her children Frazer, 23, and Dominique, 31, each travelled around 1,500 miles. Husband Michael, 60, was away at sea much of the time but helped out when he was around.
Come rain or shine Mrs Kirkwood would walk miles on foot, searching alleys, fields and buildings. She printed hundreds of posters offering a $100 reward and at one time took a week off work to concentrate on the investigation. The pet detective also wrote to 360 vets and animal hospital across the country in case Amy had been handed in. Then, last Saturday, all the hard work paid off, when Mrs Kirkwood received a phone call from someone who had spotted five-year-old Amy at a campsite at a local village.
'We had lots of reports from around the area she was found that a small boxer dog was running around,' she said.
'We travelled out there almost every day to look but we must have missed her. It went very quiet for a while but then we had a call from a man in a phone box near Skirlington who said a boxer dog had been around there and someone had managed to tempt her into a caravan with some food.
'When she went to meet her she was so excited. Amy's only just getting back to normal now - it looks as though whoever had her was keeping her tied up outside. I can't believe anyone would want to do that to a dog.
'My advice to anyone else who loses their dog is to never give up. The police can only go so far and you have to turn pet detective if you want to get your dog back.'
Source: http://www.animalworldnetwork.com/bfamdriv50mi.html
By Chris Brooke
10/8/98
WHEN Jennifer Kirkwood's beloved boxer dog was stolen she was determined to move heaven and earth to find her again.
Now, two months later, the mother of two has been reunited with her pet Amy after an exhaustive 5,000-mile search costing around $2,000.
A delighted Mrs Kirkwood said: 'We are so pleased to have her back. You can't believe how relieved we are - we have loved her since she was a puppy.'
The hunt began in August when Amy was taken from outside a shop. Police found that a teenage girl had been seen with the dog but had no other clues.
While others gave up hope that the pet could ever be traced, 53-year-old Mrs Kirkwood set out to track her down.
She and her family spent every spare hour driving along lanes and roads within a 20-mile radius of their home in Hessle, East Yorkshire. Mrs Kirkwood clocked up 2,100 miles, while her children Frazer, 23, and Dominique, 31, each travelled around 1,500 miles. Husband Michael, 60, was away at sea much of the time but helped out when he was around.
Come rain or shine Mrs Kirkwood would walk miles on foot, searching alleys, fields and buildings. She printed hundreds of posters offering a $100 reward and at one time took a week off work to concentrate on the investigation. The pet detective also wrote to 360 vets and animal hospital across the country in case Amy had been handed in. Then, last Saturday, all the hard work paid off, when Mrs Kirkwood received a phone call from someone who had spotted five-year-old Amy at a campsite at a local village.
'We had lots of reports from around the area she was found that a small boxer dog was running around,' she said.
'We travelled out there almost every day to look but we must have missed her. It went very quiet for a while but then we had a call from a man in a phone box near Skirlington who said a boxer dog had been around there and someone had managed to tempt her into a caravan with some food.
'When she went to meet her she was so excited. Amy's only just getting back to normal now - it looks as though whoever had her was keeping her tied up outside. I can't believe anyone would want to do that to a dog.
'My advice to anyone else who loses their dog is to never give up. The police can only go so far and you have to turn pet detective if you want to get your dog back.'
Source: http://www.animalworldnetwork.com/bfamdriv50mi.html
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Chemo, chihuahua
Cancer patient's stolen puppy recovered
Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 5, 2006 (09-05) 16:11 PDT
SAN FRANCISCO -- Police have recovered a Chihuahua puppy that had been missing since Saturday and plan to reunite the pooch with its owner, 8-year-old cancer patient Kyle Jackson Wetle, later today, UCSF officials said.
Kyle, of Monterey, suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a potentially fatal cancer, and Chemo has been a comforting companion for the past six weeks, his family said.
Chemo also has helped Kyle deal with the loss of the family's two German Shepherds, both of which died recently, according to his mother.
Before Chemo's disappearance Saturday, Kyle's 15-year-old brother had been playing with the puppy while waiting for Kyle's treatment to be over, then ran into the hospital to see if his brother was ready for a surprise visit from the dog, their mother said.
"Not 10 minutes later, they were paging me over the loudspeaker," said Katrina Wetle, Kyle's mother, who returned to find a car window broken and Chemo gone. "I think (the thief) was watching and smashed and grabbed when my son left."
The Wetle family and university officials started spreading word of the theft on Monday, and by this morning, UCSF phones were lighting up with investigative leads from tipsters hoping to help police find the stolen pooch, hospital and police officials said.
The tips ended up being for naught, said Fischer.
"This person just showed up," he said. "This is pure speculation -- but with all the media attention this received, I wouldn't want to walk around San Francisco with that dog. Would you?"
University police raised about $200 of their own money for a reward for the return of Chemo, and numerous people phoned in today to offer contributions, Fischer said. He did not know whether anyone would receive the reward money, but said there was no need for new donations, now that the dog has been returned.
"It's too soon to tell whether anyone will get money, until we complete our investigation on the auto burglary," he said.
Wetle said the family also had received an outpouring of support through e-mails and visits to Kyle's Web site, www.kylessmile.org.
"It's been great -- there's been a community outpouring of people wanting to help any way they can -- people offering puppies," she said.
Wetle broke the news of Chemo's disappearance to Kyle on Monday evening, she said, and he was confident the dog would be returned.
Chemo, whom the Wetle family has had for about six weeks, has been a huge source of comfort for Kyle as he undergoes treatment, she added.
"We tempered it with the fact that we were going on the news to try and get the puppy back," Wetle said. "He was very positive -- he said even though the bad guys took the puppy, the good guys will bring it back."
Doctors recently found a match for a bone marrow transplant for Kyle, but the procedure was delayed when they found that the cancer had returned to his marrow. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy and will find out on Sept. 10 whether he will be able to receive the transplant.
Source: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/05/BAGQTKVGG931.DTL
Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 5, 2006 (09-05) 16:11 PDT
SAN FRANCISCO -- Police have recovered a Chihuahua puppy that had been missing since Saturday and plan to reunite the pooch with its owner, 8-year-old cancer patient Kyle Jackson Wetle, later today, UCSF officials said.
The 15-week-old puppy was brought to the Koret Family House on 10th Avenue, where Kyle's family has been staying, around noon today.
When officers arrived at the building, they found a man holding the black-and-tan Chihuahua, university police Capt. Torin Fischer said. The man waited for police to arrive and was cooperating with officers, he added.
"It's a happy day," Fischer said. "Right now we are still investigating all of this. We're not drawing any conclusions yet -- we're just thankful the dog has been returned."
The dog, named Chemo, was taken from the Wetle family car, parked in the UCSF parking garage, on Saturday while Kyle was being treated at UCSF Children's Hospital.
When officers arrived at the building, they found a man holding the black-and-tan Chihuahua, university police Capt. Torin Fischer said. The man waited for police to arrive and was cooperating with officers, he added.
"It's a happy day," Fischer said. "Right now we are still investigating all of this. We're not drawing any conclusions yet -- we're just thankful the dog has been returned."
The dog, named Chemo, was taken from the Wetle family car, parked in the UCSF parking garage, on Saturday while Kyle was being treated at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Kyle, of Monterey, suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a potentially fatal cancer, and Chemo has been a comforting companion for the past six weeks, his family said.
Chemo also has helped Kyle deal with the loss of the family's two German Shepherds, both of which died recently, according to his mother.
Before Chemo's disappearance Saturday, Kyle's 15-year-old brother had been playing with the puppy while waiting for Kyle's treatment to be over, then ran into the hospital to see if his brother was ready for a surprise visit from the dog, their mother said.
"Not 10 minutes later, they were paging me over the loudspeaker," said Katrina Wetle, Kyle's mother, who returned to find a car window broken and Chemo gone. "I think (the thief) was watching and smashed and grabbed when my son left."
The Wetle family and university officials started spreading word of the theft on Monday, and by this morning, UCSF phones were lighting up with investigative leads from tipsters hoping to help police find the stolen pooch, hospital and police officials said.
The tips ended up being for naught, said Fischer.
"This person just showed up," he said. "This is pure speculation -- but with all the media attention this received, I wouldn't want to walk around San Francisco with that dog. Would you?"
University police raised about $200 of their own money for a reward for the return of Chemo, and numerous people phoned in today to offer contributions, Fischer said. He did not know whether anyone would receive the reward money, but said there was no need for new donations, now that the dog has been returned.
"It's too soon to tell whether anyone will get money, until we complete our investigation on the auto burglary," he said.
Wetle said the family also had received an outpouring of support through e-mails and visits to Kyle's Web site, www.kylessmile.org.
"It's been great -- there's been a community outpouring of people wanting to help any way they can -- people offering puppies," she said.
Wetle broke the news of Chemo's disappearance to Kyle on Monday evening, she said, and he was confident the dog would be returned.
Chemo, whom the Wetle family has had for about six weeks, has been a huge source of comfort for Kyle as he undergoes treatment, she added.
"We tempered it with the fact that we were going on the news to try and get the puppy back," Wetle said. "He was very positive -- he said even though the bad guys took the puppy, the good guys will bring it back."
Doctors recently found a match for a bone marrow transplant for Kyle, but the procedure was delayed when they found that the cancer had returned to his marrow. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy and will find out on Sept. 10 whether he will be able to receive the transplant.
Source: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/05/BAGQTKVGG931.DTL
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Butler, a Boston Terrier
This story took place in an area that is lucky to have a Lost Dog Registry with volunteers and a telephone number to call. That’s how this dog was found. They place ads in the paper so people will know they exist. Now, you can see that this dog's dad is crazy about the dog, yet he did stupid things like leave his dog unattended for 30 minutes and without a tag, and the dog is a digger . . . A lot of people would pass judgment that he's too irresponsible to care for a dog. I say don't spoil it, 'cause he's not alone. Just enjoy the story.
Good deed brings curious pup back to rightful owner--
By Jeffrey Spivak
10/1/99
KANSAS CITY, MO _ The sound out of Clayton Briscoe's mouth ascended from the pit of his soul. It was a guttural yell, one born of desperation and terror, like from a mother watching her toddler running into the street.
"Buuuutttt-lerrrr," Briscoe hollered out. It was 4 am on a Thursday in late August. Briscoe was frantically jogging, walking, darting through his north Overland Park, Kan., neighborhood, up the streets, across driveways, through back yards. He was bellowing at the top of his lungs, waking up the neighbors and bawling his eyes out.
His dog, a little Boston terrier, the love of his life, was lost.
"Butler!" he shrieked. "Where's my puppy?"
He'd had that short-haired dog just three years. Got it when he got married. His grandmother, uncle and aunt all had Boston terriers. So Briscoe bought one, too. It was black with white patches around the collar and on one paw. Its coat looked like a tuxedo, thus the name "Butler."
Briscoe took that dog everywhere, to stores, to parks, to friends' houses, even on vacations. He taught that dog to howl when he played the flute. He coached that dog to crunch a racquetball in its mouth and shoot it out. Now Briscoe was going through a divorce. That dog was his only child, his boy.
"He's the only thing I've got," Briscoe said. Now Butler was gone.
"Buuuutttt-lerrrr."
This night had been one of the few times when Briscoe didn't take the dog with him. He had gotten home to his duplex at 3 a.m., then let Butler out into the fenced- in back yard. A half-hour later, Briscoe wondered why Butler hadn't come back in. He went out to check. Butler wasn't around. And there was a hole dug under the wood fence.
It was more than the 26-year-old could handle. He broke down in tears and burst out his door in the 7700 block of Kessler Street.
The search continued for two hours. Briscoe caught an hour's sleep, then was out again at 8 am, knocking on doors. No luck. He came back in and called animal shelters, wondering what to do.
One suggested he notify the Lost Dog Registry.
He dialed the number. It rang into a small office in the Waldo section of Kansas City.
Janice Martin unlocked the office door and sat at the lone desk. A guide to America's dogs hung on one wall. A linen quilt of pooches hung on another. A doggie- faced mug held her coffee.
She had started the Registry, a lost-and-found dog clearinghouse, 28 years ago. Now she was in her 60s and still volunteering hours every day. This summer had been the busiest she could remember. This day, Aug 19, was typical. There were more than two dozen messages on the answering machine.
Martin turned on the playback. A chocolate-colored Labrador had jumped a fence. A golden retriever had turned up in someone's yard. A Boston terrier had run away. On and on it went.
After all these years, she had become almost numb to grief. She started making calls, obtaining more specific information on the dogs for index cards the Registry kept. She reached Briscoe that morning.
Before long, Martin heard him crying into the phone, sobbing and talking at the same time, blubbering so much that she couldn't make out what he was saying.
"I was about to cry with him," she said. "I've never had a gentleman so undone."
The Registry had a pretty good track record, even when a dog didn't have a tag, like Butler. Nearly half the calls resulted in owners being reunited with their pets. Sometimes the dog made its own way home. And sometimes the Registry matched one of its "found" cards with a "lost" card.
Typically, all this happened within the first day of a dog being lost. After the first day, Martin knew the odds of recovering a lost pet dropped precipitously.
By the end of Thursday, no one reported finding a pooch like Butler. No one called Friday, or over the weekend, or the beginning of the next week. Then that Thursday, another of the Registry's volunteers took a call about a Boston terrier found in Johnson County. It was from a woman named Wanda Brizendine. Brizendine had been sitting in her ranch house in the 8600 block of Stearns Street when she heard the two preschool-aged children next door yell, "Mom, look what we found."
A dog had wandered into their yard. The children asked their mom if they could keep him. The family had just gotten rid of two boxers. The mother didn't want any more dogs. She told her children "no." So the children carried the dog to 68-year- old Brizendine.
"That doggie needs a home, you can tell," Brizendine told them. "He's nervous."
She should know. She was, by her own account, "a dog person." She once had three dogs in the house. She still had two, one of which she found off the street. No one claimed it, so she kept it.
Actually, it's not uncommon for people to keep the dogs they find. The Lost Dog Registry had a few cases a year in which dog-finders refused to give up what they found. Sometimes, the owner and finder ended up in court. And Briscoe's uncle told the story of losing his terrier once and a week later seeing someone walking his dog.
The thought of keeping this new dog, this Boston terrier, crossed Brizendine's mind, too. It was so well-groomed, so well-behaved. "I wouldn't mind having one of these," she said. And if not her, her 23-year-old grandson. He heard about what she found and called her, wanting it.
Brizendine debated what to do. She had the dog two nights now. She had to at least try to find the owner. That's what she would want with one of her pets. She remembered seeing something about the Lost Dog Registry in the newspaper. She called.
Registry volunteer Tessa Calegari jotted down Brizendine's description of the Boston terrier, then thumbed through the index cards looking for a match. There seemed to be one. She called Briscoe and left a message for him to call Brizendine. By the time Briscoe got that message at home, he was in tears. He had given up hope of ever seeing Butler again. Just that afternoon, he had received a call from one of the animal shelters he originally contacted. It had a dog that fit Butler's description. After work, he raced there, but was told a woman had just picked up the dog.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Briscoe roared. "She's got my dog!" He wanted to hunt her down. The shelter wouldn't tell him where she lived. "I was a mess," he said.
Then there was the message to call Brizendine. He called. She quizzed him about the dog.
"What did the tail look like?"
"It looks broken."
"That's him," Brizendine said.
Briscoe immediately drove 16 blocks to Brizendine's. She sat in the front yard holding the Boston terrier in her lap. Briscoe jumped out of his car. The terrier jumped up and ran to him. Briscoe scooped up his dog, his Butler.
"There's my baby, did you miss your daddy?" he cooed.
It was one of those little-known instances of strangers helping strangers, that sometimes fortuitous circle of circumstances when goodness and generosity conquers grief.
Briscoe offered to pay Brizendine. "You've got to be kidding," Brizendine replied. "This made my heart feel good."
Source: http://www.animalworldnetwork.com/bgooddeedbri.html
Good deed brings curious pup back to rightful owner--
By Jeffrey Spivak
10/1/99
KANSAS CITY, MO _ The sound out of Clayton Briscoe's mouth ascended from the pit of his soul. It was a guttural yell, one born of desperation and terror, like from a mother watching her toddler running into the street.
"Buuuutttt-lerrrr," Briscoe hollered out. It was 4 am on a Thursday in late August. Briscoe was frantically jogging, walking, darting through his north Overland Park, Kan., neighborhood, up the streets, across driveways, through back yards. He was bellowing at the top of his lungs, waking up the neighbors and bawling his eyes out.
His dog, a little Boston terrier, the love of his life, was lost.
"Butler!" he shrieked. "Where's my puppy?"
He'd had that short-haired dog just three years. Got it when he got married. His grandmother, uncle and aunt all had Boston terriers. So Briscoe bought one, too. It was black with white patches around the collar and on one paw. Its coat looked like a tuxedo, thus the name "Butler."
Briscoe took that dog everywhere, to stores, to parks, to friends' houses, even on vacations. He taught that dog to howl when he played the flute. He coached that dog to crunch a racquetball in its mouth and shoot it out. Now Briscoe was going through a divorce. That dog was his only child, his boy.
"He's the only thing I've got," Briscoe said. Now Butler was gone.
"Buuuutttt-lerrrr."
This night had been one of the few times when Briscoe didn't take the dog with him. He had gotten home to his duplex at 3 a.m., then let Butler out into the fenced- in back yard. A half-hour later, Briscoe wondered why Butler hadn't come back in. He went out to check. Butler wasn't around. And there was a hole dug under the wood fence.
It was more than the 26-year-old could handle. He broke down in tears and burst out his door in the 7700 block of Kessler Street.
The search continued for two hours. Briscoe caught an hour's sleep, then was out again at 8 am, knocking on doors. No luck. He came back in and called animal shelters, wondering what to do.
One suggested he notify the Lost Dog Registry.
He dialed the number. It rang into a small office in the Waldo section of Kansas City.
Janice Martin unlocked the office door and sat at the lone desk. A guide to America's dogs hung on one wall. A linen quilt of pooches hung on another. A doggie- faced mug held her coffee.
She had started the Registry, a lost-and-found dog clearinghouse, 28 years ago. Now she was in her 60s and still volunteering hours every day. This summer had been the busiest she could remember. This day, Aug 19, was typical. There were more than two dozen messages on the answering machine.
Martin turned on the playback. A chocolate-colored Labrador had jumped a fence. A golden retriever had turned up in someone's yard. A Boston terrier had run away. On and on it went.
After all these years, she had become almost numb to grief. She started making calls, obtaining more specific information on the dogs for index cards the Registry kept. She reached Briscoe that morning.
Before long, Martin heard him crying into the phone, sobbing and talking at the same time, blubbering so much that she couldn't make out what he was saying.
"I was about to cry with him," she said. "I've never had a gentleman so undone."
The Registry had a pretty good track record, even when a dog didn't have a tag, like Butler. Nearly half the calls resulted in owners being reunited with their pets. Sometimes the dog made its own way home. And sometimes the Registry matched one of its "found" cards with a "lost" card.
Typically, all this happened within the first day of a dog being lost. After the first day, Martin knew the odds of recovering a lost pet dropped precipitously.
By the end of Thursday, no one reported finding a pooch like Butler. No one called Friday, or over the weekend, or the beginning of the next week. Then that Thursday, another of the Registry's volunteers took a call about a Boston terrier found in Johnson County. It was from a woman named Wanda Brizendine. Brizendine had been sitting in her ranch house in the 8600 block of Stearns Street when she heard the two preschool-aged children next door yell, "Mom, look what we found."
A dog had wandered into their yard. The children asked their mom if they could keep him. The family had just gotten rid of two boxers. The mother didn't want any more dogs. She told her children "no." So the children carried the dog to 68-year- old Brizendine.
"That doggie needs a home, you can tell," Brizendine told them. "He's nervous."
She should know. She was, by her own account, "a dog person." She once had three dogs in the house. She still had two, one of which she found off the street. No one claimed it, so she kept it.
Actually, it's not uncommon for people to keep the dogs they find. The Lost Dog Registry had a few cases a year in which dog-finders refused to give up what they found. Sometimes, the owner and finder ended up in court. And Briscoe's uncle told the story of losing his terrier once and a week later seeing someone walking his dog.
The thought of keeping this new dog, this Boston terrier, crossed Brizendine's mind, too. It was so well-groomed, so well-behaved. "I wouldn't mind having one of these," she said. And if not her, her 23-year-old grandson. He heard about what she found and called her, wanting it.
Brizendine debated what to do. She had the dog two nights now. She had to at least try to find the owner. That's what she would want with one of her pets. She remembered seeing something about the Lost Dog Registry in the newspaper. She called.
Registry volunteer Tessa Calegari jotted down Brizendine's description of the Boston terrier, then thumbed through the index cards looking for a match. There seemed to be one. She called Briscoe and left a message for him to call Brizendine. By the time Briscoe got that message at home, he was in tears. He had given up hope of ever seeing Butler again. Just that afternoon, he had received a call from one of the animal shelters he originally contacted. It had a dog that fit Butler's description. After work, he raced there, but was told a woman had just picked up the dog.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Briscoe roared. "She's got my dog!" He wanted to hunt her down. The shelter wouldn't tell him where she lived. "I was a mess," he said.
Then there was the message to call Brizendine. He called. She quizzed him about the dog.
"What did the tail look like?"
"It looks broken."
"That's him," Brizendine said.
Briscoe immediately drove 16 blocks to Brizendine's. She sat in the front yard holding the Boston terrier in her lap. Briscoe jumped out of his car. The terrier jumped up and ran to him. Briscoe scooped up his dog, his Butler.
"There's my baby, did you miss your daddy?" he cooed.
It was one of those little-known instances of strangers helping strangers, that sometimes fortuitous circle of circumstances when goodness and generosity conquers grief.
Briscoe offered to pay Brizendine. "You've got to be kidding," Brizendine replied. "This made my heart feel good."
Source: http://www.animalworldnetwork.com/bgooddeedbri.html
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Sedge, Chesapeake Bay retriever
DOGGONE
Sedge's journey finally brings him back home
Man's Best Friend Back Where He Belongs
Story by Cathy Dyson
September 15, 2006 12:50 am
FOR 31/2 MONTHS, Jerry Decatur thought his dog was gone for good--and it tore him up inside.
The last time he saw Sedge, a Chesapeake Bay retriever with curly brown hair and a head shaped like a bear, the dog was on the shore of the Potomac River.
Jerry, 29, has been working the same piece of river off the Widewater peninsula in North Stafford since he was 13, and he rarely goes anywhere without Sedge or Bo, his black Labrador retriever.
But on the afternoon of May 15, the boat was filled with crab pots, so Jerry had to take off alone.
Sedge jumped into the river after him, but that wasn't unusual. The dogs often escort Jerry out, "like little boats around a cruise ship," said Jerry's mother, Terry Decatur.
Then they swim back to shore. But something different happened that afternoon, as Jerry the "Crab Man" was about to discover.
A search for Sedge
On the spring day Jerry last saw his dog, his brother Jason was on shore, near the cabin the Decatur family has used for generations. Jason saw Sedge go after the boat and called the dog--and Jerry on his cell phone--but neither responded.
Jerry went off to work, not knowing Sedge was in the river. He returned hours later and figured Sedge had gone home, a few blocks away on Decatur Road. When there was no sign of Sedge, Jerry got worried.
He got back into the boat and looked up and down the Potomac, checking the wooded outline of Widewater and the developed areas of Quantico Marine Corps Base.
He put a few shirts on the Virginia and Maryland shores, so if Sedge found them he would smell his scent and wait there for him.
The dog wasn't wearing a collar because Jerry had taken it off the day before to give Sedge a bath. Sedge typically lies in the middle of the boat, among bushels of blue crabs and boxes of shrimp heads used for bait, and his collar starts to stink after a while, Jerry said.
For days after Sedge disappeared, Jerry scanned the river, called county animal shelters and stared at every boat that went by, looking for his beloved brown dog. Sedge was 3, and Jerry had raised him from a puppy.
When days turned into weeks and then months, Jerry figured Sedge was long gone. He hoped someone had given him a good home, but he feared the worst.
Jerry said goodbye to Sedge during a memorial service on the water--a moment so emotional he still doesn't want to talk about it.
A chance conversation
Jerry's mother, Terry, regularly attends the 8:30 a.m. service at North Stafford Baptist Church.
But the week before Aug. 27 was a tough one. Business had been brisk at the 610 Car Wash on Garrisonville Road, which she owns, and she decided to sleep in a little. "Which is very unusual," she said.
Terry went to the 11 a.m. service instead. Afterward, the pastor invited everyone to stay for fellowship and food. Terry normally wouldn't be comfortable eating if she hadn't brought a dish, but she was encouraged to stay, so she got in line to fix a plate.
Most of her relatives attended the earlier service, so she looked around for someone she knew. She sat with Deacon Don Wicker and his wife, Joan. Their daughter and son-in-law, Angela and Shaun McNerney, were there, too. Shaun is a Marine corporal, stationed at Quantico.
The group made small talk about the weather and current events. Someone mentioned there was banana pudding, and everyone agreed they didn't need it, but it sure did sound good. As the group sampled dessert, Angela said something about the big brown dog she had, and how she was supposed to walk him to lose weight.
Terry's ears perked up.
When Angela said the dog had been found in the river, Terry almost choked.
With a mouthful of pudding, she asked the McNerneys what kind of dog it was.
When Shaun answered that is was a Chesapeake Bay retriever, Terry said, "Oh, my God, that is my son's dog."
The pace of conversation picked up from there. Terry and Shaun traded details about what the dog looked like, how loyal he was and the way he wrapped his front paws around a person in a bear hug. The more she heard, the more Terry was convinced this dog was her son's.
But the more excited she got, the more worried Angela became. She had fallen in love the first time she saw the dog she named Bear. She said he had the "same kindness in his eyes" as Benny Boy, a Rottweiler mix she once owned.
Angela works at Aquia Garrisonville Animal Hospital, and she made sure the dog had all the medical care he needed. She also bought him all kinds of treats, toys and extra-large pink shirts to wear.
As the conversation at church proceeded, she said to herself, "Oh, God, please, no." She wished her husband would just shut up.
But Shaun had lost a dog once and never found it. He and his wife had agreed when they adopted the dog from the Quantico Animal Shelter that they would return him if the rightful owner surfaced.
Angela's heart fell, just as Jerry's had a few months earlier.
"I kinda knew it was his," she said, "but I didn't want it to be."
An unforgettable reunion
Shaun and Terry put their plates aside and left church to get Jerry.
He was working at his roadside stand, where he sells cooked crabs on the weekends. He had on his jeans and the same white rubber boots he wears on the boat. He was in too big a hurry to put on a shirt.
The trio arrived at the McNerney townhouse at Quantico, and Shaun unlocked the basement door. Jerry and his mother could hear toenails clicking against concrete.
"Jerry hollered out, 'Sedge,' and that dog just bolted up the steps, jumped up on Jerry and knocked him over," Terry said. "They were rolling around on the ground, and Jerry was saying, 'Oh, thank God, thank God,' with big 'ol tears coming down his face."
When the crying stopped, Jerry finally learned what had happened.
A military policeman at the base spotted Sedge in the river about six miles from the Decatur cabin. Cpl. Koda Harper got Sedge out of the water and took him to the base's animal shelter.
Jerry didn't know there was such a facility. Many people don't, because it's not a public shelter, Harper said.
Jerry told Shaun he'd be in the couple's debt forever. He offered them joint custody; he'd keep Sedge during the week, and they could take him on the weekends to Lunga Reservoir, where Sedge liked to chase the sticks and balls Shaun threw.
Jerry also said he'd been on a waiting list for three years to get a female Chesapeake Bay retriever from a kennel near the Great Lakes. Jerry would breed the female to Sedge, and the McNerneys could have the pick of the litter.
There was one problem.
Angela had had the dog neutered in mid-August. She'd waited for almost two months after adopting him to have the surgery.
"No one came for him, so I figured he was mine," she said.
Jerry wasn't thrilled by the news, but quickly decided amid the bear hugs that it didn't matter.
"That's all right, I got my dog back," he said. "I don't care how he came back to me, as long as I got him back."
Since returning Sedge to Jerry, the McNerneys have adopted a border collie mix they named Nikki. Angela still has pictures of Sedge on her cell phone.
Source: Fredericksburg http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/092006/09152006/221153/index_html
Printer-friendly page HERE
Sedge's journey finally brings him back home
Man's Best Friend Back Where He Belongs
Story by Cathy Dyson
September 15, 2006 12:50 am
FOR 31/2 MONTHS, Jerry Decatur thought his dog was gone for good--and it tore him up inside.
Jerry Decatur lost his dog Sedge in May, and got him back after 31/2 months. 'Yeah, there were tears when I got him back,' he said of the reunion. 'Sedge went crazy, too; he missed his dad.'
Sedge runs past some crab pots on the beach just after dawn at Widewater, where the Decatur family keep their crab boats.
The last time he saw Sedge, a Chesapeake Bay retriever with curly brown hair and a head shaped like a bear, the dog was on the shore of the Potomac River.
Jerry, 29, has been working the same piece of river off the Widewater peninsula in North Stafford since he was 13, and he rarely goes anywhere without Sedge or Bo, his black Labrador retriever.
But on the afternoon of May 15, the boat was filled with crab pots, so Jerry had to take off alone.
Sedge jumped into the river after him, but that wasn't unusual. The dogs often escort Jerry out, "like little boats around a cruise ship," said Jerry's mother, Terry Decatur.
Then they swim back to shore. But something different happened that afternoon, as Jerry the "Crab Man" was about to discover.
A search for Sedge
On the spring day Jerry last saw his dog, his brother Jason was on shore, near the cabin the Decatur family has used for generations. Jason saw Sedge go after the boat and called the dog--and Jerry on his cell phone--but neither responded.
Jerry went off to work, not knowing Sedge was in the river. He returned hours later and figured Sedge had gone home, a few blocks away on Decatur Road. When there was no sign of Sedge, Jerry got worried.
He got back into the boat and looked up and down the Potomac, checking the wooded outline of Widewater and the developed areas of Quantico Marine Corps Base.
He put a few shirts on the Virginia and Maryland shores, so if Sedge found them he would smell his scent and wait there for him.
The dog wasn't wearing a collar because Jerry had taken it off the day before to give Sedge a bath. Sedge typically lies in the middle of the boat, among bushels of blue crabs and boxes of shrimp heads used for bait, and his collar starts to stink after a while, Jerry said.
For days after Sedge disappeared, Jerry scanned the river, called county animal shelters and stared at every boat that went by, looking for his beloved brown dog. Sedge was 3, and Jerry had raised him from a puppy.
When days turned into weeks and then months, Jerry figured Sedge was long gone. He hoped someone had given him a good home, but he feared the worst.
Jerry said goodbye to Sedge during a memorial service on the water--a moment so emotional he still doesn't want to talk about it.
A chance conversation
Jerry's mother, Terry, regularly attends the 8:30 a.m. service at North Stafford Baptist Church.
But the week before Aug. 27 was a tough one. Business had been brisk at the 610 Car Wash on Garrisonville Road, which she owns, and she decided to sleep in a little. "Which is very unusual," she said.
Terry went to the 11 a.m. service instead. Afterward, the pastor invited everyone to stay for fellowship and food. Terry normally wouldn't be comfortable eating if she hadn't brought a dish, but she was encouraged to stay, so she got in line to fix a plate.
Most of her relatives attended the earlier service, so she looked around for someone she knew. She sat with Deacon Don Wicker and his wife, Joan. Their daughter and son-in-law, Angela and Shaun McNerney, were there, too. Shaun is a Marine corporal, stationed at Quantico.
The group made small talk about the weather and current events. Someone mentioned there was banana pudding, and everyone agreed they didn't need it, but it sure did sound good. As the group sampled dessert, Angela said something about the big brown dog she had, and how she was supposed to walk him to lose weight.
Terry's ears perked up.
When Angela said the dog had been found in the river, Terry almost choked.
With a mouthful of pudding, she asked the McNerneys what kind of dog it was.
When Shaun answered that is was a Chesapeake Bay retriever, Terry said, "Oh, my God, that is my son's dog."
The pace of conversation picked up from there. Terry and Shaun traded details about what the dog looked like, how loyal he was and the way he wrapped his front paws around a person in a bear hug. The more she heard, the more Terry was convinced this dog was her son's.
But the more excited she got, the more worried Angela became. She had fallen in love the first time she saw the dog she named Bear. She said he had the "same kindness in his eyes" as Benny Boy, a Rottweiler mix she once owned.
Angela works at Aquia Garrisonville Animal Hospital, and she made sure the dog had all the medical care he needed. She also bought him all kinds of treats, toys and extra-large pink shirts to wear.
As the conversation at church proceeded, she said to herself, "Oh, God, please, no." She wished her husband would just shut up.
But Shaun had lost a dog once and never found it. He and his wife had agreed when they adopted the dog from the Quantico Animal Shelter that they would return him if the rightful owner surfaced.
Angela's heart fell, just as Jerry's had a few months earlier.
"I kinda knew it was his," she said, "but I didn't want it to be."
An unforgettable reunion
Shaun and Terry put their plates aside and left church to get Jerry.
He was working at his roadside stand, where he sells cooked crabs on the weekends. He had on his jeans and the same white rubber boots he wears on the boat. He was in too big a hurry to put on a shirt.
The trio arrived at the McNerney townhouse at Quantico, and Shaun unlocked the basement door. Jerry and his mother could hear toenails clicking against concrete.
"Jerry hollered out, 'Sedge,' and that dog just bolted up the steps, jumped up on Jerry and knocked him over," Terry said. "They were rolling around on the ground, and Jerry was saying, 'Oh, thank God, thank God,' with big 'ol tears coming down his face."
When the crying stopped, Jerry finally learned what had happened.
A military policeman at the base spotted Sedge in the river about six miles from the Decatur cabin. Cpl. Koda Harper got Sedge out of the water and took him to the base's animal shelter.
Jerry didn't know there was such a facility. Many people don't, because it's not a public shelter, Harper said.
Jerry told Shaun he'd be in the couple's debt forever. He offered them joint custody; he'd keep Sedge during the week, and they could take him on the weekends to Lunga Reservoir, where Sedge liked to chase the sticks and balls Shaun threw.
Jerry also said he'd been on a waiting list for three years to get a female Chesapeake Bay retriever from a kennel near the Great Lakes. Jerry would breed the female to Sedge, and the McNerneys could have the pick of the litter.
There was one problem.
Angela had had the dog neutered in mid-August. She'd waited for almost two months after adopting him to have the surgery.
"No one came for him, so I figured he was mine," she said.
Jerry wasn't thrilled by the news, but quickly decided amid the bear hugs that it didn't matter.
"That's all right, I got my dog back," he said. "I don't care how he came back to me, as long as I got him back."
Since returning Sedge to Jerry, the McNerneys have adopted a border collie mix they named Nikki. Angela still has pictures of Sedge on her cell phone.
Source: Fredericksburg http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/092006/09152006/221153/index_html
Printer-friendly page HERE
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