Home"Sweetie" home
Bella Vistan helps reunite lost dog with Arkansas family
Douglas Grant
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Aaron Morris/The Camden News Ronda Parks has her beloved dog Sweetie home with her again thanks in part to Ann O'Malley of Bella Vista. Pictured with Parks are husband Greg and son Thomas.
A south Arkansas woman was reunited with her lost dog thanks to a woman in Arlington, Texas, and a Bella Vista resident.
Ronda Parks, of Camden, was in the Dallas area of Texas on March 14 with her husband and son. The family was on a pleasure trip following her release from a hospital, where she was treated for cystic fibrosis.
On the way back home, the family stopped around 6 p.m. at a Texas Roadhouse in Grand Prairie. When they came out of the restaurant, they discovered somebody had broken into their vehicle.
Parks said the back window of their pickup truck was broken out and their personal belongings were gone, including the intravenous medication she needed and their beloved poodle, Sweetie. Parks said she doubted the 8-year-old dog jumped from the truck and ran, as she was recovering from a broken leg and was not yet walking quite right. The family searched for Sweetie without success for nearly five hours.
"We went all over the place calling her name," Parks said.
Eventually, they decided to go home so Parks could have access to medicine. They arrived in Camden about 4 a.m. March 15. When Parks awoke later that morning, she began surfing the Internet for any sign of her dog.
"I started searching the shelters (in the Dallas area) and placed an ad on PetFinder.com." She also paid to run an ad for two weeks in The Dallas Morning News. The ad resulted in a couple of crank calls, but nothing concrete about Sweetie's whereabouts, Parks said. She never lost hope. "Every day I would spend two or three hours on the computer."
Angels appear
Sweetie was found a week after she disappeared by Jan Warlock of Arlington, Texas. Warlock said the dog was darting in and out of traffic at a busy intersection and was nearly hit several times. Arlington is about six miles from Grand Prairie.
Warlock's son was able to capture Sweetie, and the two began searching for the owner. Parks found out later the dog's identity tag was missing, but Sweetie was still wearing her collar. Warlock placed ads in local papers in the Dallas area, hung fliers and even checked with local veterinarians, but nobody knew the dog. She then put Sweetie's picture and some information about her on www.FidoFinder.com.
About the same time, Parks, back home in Arkansas, was doing a similar thing on www.PetFinder.com.
However, for some unexplained reason, she was unable to post a photo of her dog on the site. Finally, on March 31, more than two weeks after losing her dog, Parks was successful in posting a picture on the Internet.
That night, Parks had a message from Bella Vistan Ann O'Malley on her home answering machine.
"I think I have a match," were the words O'Malley had spoken. When Parks called her back O'Malley told her to go on the Internet to www.FidoFinder.com and look at Warlock's found-dog announcement. Once Parks did, it was obvious the dog was Sweetie.
"(O'Malley) was screaming, 'It's a match, it's a match,' like it was her dog," Parks said. "I'll never forget that moment. It took my breath away." After talking to O'Malley, Parks immediately called Warlock.
"She said Sweetie was OK," Parks said.
Not knowing anything about the dog, Warlock had taken her to a local veterinarian, where she checked out fine. Warlock even had the doctor administer a standard battery of vaccinations, just in case.
The O'Malley factor
O'Malley was living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when Hurricane Katrina hit the southern United States in 2005.
Working as a volunteer in an animal shelter, she saw dozens of dogs make the trip from Louisiana to her home state.
"I saw how distressed they were," she said of the displaced animals. Wanting to make a difference, she began visiting PetFinder.com in hopes of matching up a missing dog with its rightful owner. Before long, she was using other Web sites as well, including FidoFinder.com and Craig's List.
On March 31, she was at her home computer checking out the listings on PetFinder.com. She entered "Arkansas," as she usually does, to see what dogs had been listed since she was last online. She came across an entry about a poodle belonging to somebody in Arkansas that had been stolen in Texas. For the heck of it, she searched the site under "Texas," but nothing came up.
She wanted to research more, so she changed over to FidoFinder.com. While there was no listing for Arkansas, she did get a "hit" on Texas. When she compared the two dogs - both sites included pictures - she was confident it was the same animal. O'Malley immediately contacted Warlock in Texas. After helping Warlock link to PetFinder.com, the women came to a consensus - the Texas woman had the Arkansas woman's dog.
"This is the first (successful reunion) I have ever had," O'Malley said. "I was just so high afterward." O'Malley knew what Parks was going through. Several years ago, her two dogs ran away but were later recovered safe and sound.
She offers two bits of advice for pet owners who might someday find themselves in a similar situation.
"Get your dog (micro)chipped and get photos of them."
Home sweet home
On April 1, the Parks family returned to Texas, this time headed for Arlington. Ronda Parks' parents had put up a reward for the dog, but Warlock declined, Parks said. "When we left, we put the money on her coffee table."
What happened to Sweetie during the one week she was missing will probably never be known. Whatever it was, it doesn't seem to have had any lasting affect on her, Parks said. If anything, it has brought the two closer together.
"She won't let me out of her sight," Parks said of Sweetie.
As for the two women who made the reunion possible, Parks has but one word - angels.
"It's weird how this all came together," she said. "God sent those angels and answered my prayers." Parks said she prayed daily for the safe return of her dog.
"I prayed that they (whoever broke into the Parkses' vehicle) would let her go and that God would lead her to an angel who could help her get home."
During the ordeal, Parks had a dream about Sweetie.
"I saw her. She was in a white house, and the other houses were built really close together. God was telling me she was OK, that I just had to be patient."
When the Parks family arrived at Warlock's home, Ronda Parks said she could not believe her eyes.
Ronda Parks, of Camden, was in the Dallas area of Texas on March 14 with her husband and son. The family was on a pleasure trip following her release from a hospital, where she was treated for cystic fibrosis.
On the way back home, the family stopped around 6 p.m. at a Texas Roadhouse in Grand Prairie. When they came out of the restaurant, they discovered somebody had broken into their vehicle.
Parks said the back window of their pickup truck was broken out and their personal belongings were gone, including the intravenous medication she needed and their beloved poodle, Sweetie. Parks said she doubted the 8-year-old dog jumped from the truck and ran, as she was recovering from a broken leg and was not yet walking quite right. The family searched for Sweetie without success for nearly five hours.
"We went all over the place calling her name," Parks said.
Eventually, they decided to go home so Parks could have access to medicine. They arrived in Camden about 4 a.m. March 15. When Parks awoke later that morning, she began surfing the Internet for any sign of her dog.
"I started searching the shelters (in the Dallas area) and placed an ad on PetFinder.com." She also paid to run an ad for two weeks in The Dallas Morning News. The ad resulted in a couple of crank calls, but nothing concrete about Sweetie's whereabouts, Parks said. She never lost hope. "Every day I would spend two or three hours on the computer."
Angels appear
Sweetie was found a week after she disappeared by Jan Warlock of Arlington, Texas. Warlock said the dog was darting in and out of traffic at a busy intersection and was nearly hit several times. Arlington is about six miles from Grand Prairie.
Warlock's son was able to capture Sweetie, and the two began searching for the owner. Parks found out later the dog's identity tag was missing, but Sweetie was still wearing her collar. Warlock placed ads in local papers in the Dallas area, hung fliers and even checked with local veterinarians, but nobody knew the dog. She then put Sweetie's picture and some information about her on www.FidoFinder.com.
About the same time, Parks, back home in Arkansas, was doing a similar thing on www.PetFinder.com.
However, for some unexplained reason, she was unable to post a photo of her dog on the site. Finally, on March 31, more than two weeks after losing her dog, Parks was successful in posting a picture on the Internet.
That night, Parks had a message from Bella Vistan Ann O'Malley on her home answering machine.
"I think I have a match," were the words O'Malley had spoken. When Parks called her back O'Malley told her to go on the Internet to www.FidoFinder.com and look at Warlock's found-dog announcement. Once Parks did, it was obvious the dog was Sweetie.
"(O'Malley) was screaming, 'It's a match, it's a match,' like it was her dog," Parks said. "I'll never forget that moment. It took my breath away." After talking to O'Malley, Parks immediately called Warlock.
"She said Sweetie was OK," Parks said.
Not knowing anything about the dog, Warlock had taken her to a local veterinarian, where she checked out fine. Warlock even had the doctor administer a standard battery of vaccinations, just in case.
The O'Malley factor
O'Malley was living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when Hurricane Katrina hit the southern United States in 2005.
Working as a volunteer in an animal shelter, she saw dozens of dogs make the trip from Louisiana to her home state.
"I saw how distressed they were," she said of the displaced animals. Wanting to make a difference, she began visiting PetFinder.com in hopes of matching up a missing dog with its rightful owner. Before long, she was using other Web sites as well, including FidoFinder.com and Craig's List.
On March 31, she was at her home computer checking out the listings on PetFinder.com. She entered "Arkansas," as she usually does, to see what dogs had been listed since she was last online. She came across an entry about a poodle belonging to somebody in Arkansas that had been stolen in Texas. For the heck of it, she searched the site under "Texas," but nothing came up.
She wanted to research more, so she changed over to FidoFinder.com. While there was no listing for Arkansas, she did get a "hit" on Texas. When she compared the two dogs - both sites included pictures - she was confident it was the same animal. O'Malley immediately contacted Warlock in Texas. After helping Warlock link to PetFinder.com, the women came to a consensus - the Texas woman had the Arkansas woman's dog.
"This is the first (successful reunion) I have ever had," O'Malley said. "I was just so high afterward." O'Malley knew what Parks was going through. Several years ago, her two dogs ran away but were later recovered safe and sound.
She offers two bits of advice for pet owners who might someday find themselves in a similar situation.
"Get your dog (micro)chipped and get photos of them."
Home sweet home
On April 1, the Parks family returned to Texas, this time headed for Arlington. Ronda Parks' parents had put up a reward for the dog, but Warlock declined, Parks said. "When we left, we put the money on her coffee table."
What happened to Sweetie during the one week she was missing will probably never be known. Whatever it was, it doesn't seem to have had any lasting affect on her, Parks said. If anything, it has brought the two closer together.
"She won't let me out of her sight," Parks said of Sweetie.
As for the two women who made the reunion possible, Parks has but one word - angels.
"It's weird how this all came together," she said. "God sent those angels and answered my prayers." Parks said she prayed daily for the safe return of her dog.
"I prayed that they (whoever broke into the Parkses' vehicle) would let her go and that God would lead her to an angel who could help her get home."
During the ordeal, Parks had a dream about Sweetie.
"I saw her. She was in a white house, and the other houses were built really close together. God was telling me she was OK, that I just had to be patient."
When the Parks family arrived at Warlock's home, Ronda Parks said she could not believe her eyes.
"(Warlock) lived in a white brick house, and the neighbors' houses were close to her."
When the family arrived to pick up the dog, they found another interesting twist to the story. Warlock thought the little dog was so nice, she dubbed her "Sweet."
"She said Sweetie was so well mannered and so sweet, that is the only name she could come up with that would fit her," Parks said. "When she called her Sweetie, (the dog's) ears perked up."
Parks and her dog are planning a visit to Bella Vista in the coming days so they can meet O'Malley and thank her personally. O'Malley is looking forward to that day.
"There are so many things that could have happened differently," she said.
Sources:
Northwest Arkansas News story at http://www.nwanews.com/bvwv/News/8489
Arkansas Matters story at http://arkansasmatters.com/content/fulltext/?cid=209392
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Alternate version of the story below
Strangers Help Reunite Lost Dog
Mallory Hardin, KARK 4 News
Tuesday, Apr 7, 2009
What are the chances you'll ever see your pet again, if it's lost or stolen? On-line websites help find dogs, but there are thousands to search through. But one person was looking in the right place at the right time, to bring a Camden dog back to its owner.
A Camden family was in Texas when their car was broken into and their dog sweetie was stolen. They searched the streets of Texas for hours calling her name, but eventually they had to come back home to Arkansas. But that's not where the story ends, it's actually only the beginning. For the past eight years, Ronda Parks and her poodle Sweetie have been inseparable. Parks has cystic fibrosis, and sweetie helps her make it through.
"She's my moral support. When I’m sick, she sits up with me and stays up with me all the time," Ronda Parks whose dog was stolen said. Though a trip to Texas would change that. Parks' car was broken into. Her purse and wallet were missing. But that wasn't all.
"I said, 'Where's Sweetie?' They said "'he's gone too'. It was a gut wrenching feeling, made you want to throw up," Parks said. Parks thought she would never see her dog again.
"The whole way home, all three of us cried." They posted a lost picture of her on the website, www.petfinder.com. But seventeen days later, no luck.
"It was a terrible 17 days that we didn't have her," Parks said. Meanwhile, a family in Arlington, Texas found Sweetie darting through traffic. They posted a found picture of her on the website, www.fidofinder.com. But how would the lost and found pictures ever be matched? That's where a woman in Bella Vista comes in.
"My hobby is trying to find lost dog ads. I've been doing it since Hurricane Katrina, but never had a match," Anne O’Malley of Bella Vista said. Until now. She immediately called Parks to tell her the good news.
"She says I think I have a match. I think I know who has your dog," Parks said. Parks rushed to Texas for Sweetie. "It was a very joyful reunion. A very joyful reunion," Parks said. She's so thankful for the matchmaker that brought them together.
"We're going to meet. She says she wants to hug me," O’Malley said. And Parks says she'll never forget the journey that brought Sweetie home, and the ride back to Arkansas when they were finally together.
"She didn't want me out of her sight. I put her in the front with my dad, and she turned her head the whole time. She wasn't happy until she was in my arms," Parks said.
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