An online photo prompts a Laguna Beach woman to help someone she never met.
By Chris Caesar, The Orange County Register
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Kim and Jason Southwick don't have kids, but they have created a family that's tighter than most – Jason with his black pug, Mr. Big, and Kim with her prized rat terrier, Domino.
Kim was there when Domino was born in a backyard shed. And, in turn, the dog has spent a lifetime being there for her. When Jason wrestled with a near-death bout of pancreatitis, Domino sat with Kim as she cried and prayed for his recovery. Later, when Kim recovered from a hysterectomy, Domino was there, keeping her spirits up.
So, last month, when Domino went missing while the couple was on vacation from their Phoenix home, staying at a place near San Diego's Chollas Lake Park, Kim says the pain she felt was a struggle to comprehend.
"I had always really wanted kids, but could never have them," Kim says. "Everyone was trying to get it off my mind. But they didn't understand that (losing Domino) was like someone had ripped a child out of my womb. I was beyond devastated."
During the half-week left in their trip, Kim and her family spent every waking hour calling for Domino in the park, posting flyers and asking strangers if they'd seen a rat terrier with a curled tail and loving, beige eyes.
No luck. When the Southwicks drove back to Phoenix that Sunday night, they were a family member short.
"I had plans to fly to Atlanta for my mother's birthday," Kim says. "If I didn't already have the plane ticket, I would've stayed there and searched every single day."
Still, it's the Internet age, so Southwick's hunt for Domino didn't have to end. She went online for hours, sent faxes to potential leads, and followed up every relevant "lost dog" posting she could find in an effort to find Domino.
The distance between Kim and San Diego was an admitted setback, but she says she's no stranger to longshots. She didn't lose hope when doctors dismissed Jason's pancreatitis as untreatable, and she wasn't giving up on Domino, either.
"Every day I was looking at Websites," Kim says, "It was like I had OCD."
What Kim didn't know was that she wasn't alone.
•••
At about the time Domino went missing in San Diego, Vicki High was working at her job – painting murals – at a home near her own house in Laguna Beach.
As she painted, a tiny, cream-colored rat terrier wandered into the client's lawn. After some food and a little play, High snapped some photos of the dog and posted them on the Internet. Almost immediately, those images were seen, online, by Kim.
The description wasn't a strong match – "a shot in the dark," Kim admits. But Kim was desperate, and decided to contact Vicki.
It wasn't the right dog, but Kim and Vicki connected.
"(Kim)… kept asking if I was positive that the dog didn't have some black and white spots," Vicki remembers. "It didn't. But she was crying and crying, and I thought, 'Well, maybe I should help.'"
"I guess I just talked to her at the right moment," Kim adds. "And, after two to three weeks of talking to people who could just care less, I heard her express some real genuine care."
A few days later, Vicki called Kim, saying she'd have some free time that weekend, and would drive down to San Diego and post flyers if Kim could send some photographs. Kim, feeling something special about Vicki, agreed.
"A couple of my friends were like, 'You've got to be kidding me. You're posting flyers for someone you met online? Do you really think it's going to work?' And so on," Vicki says.
"Sometimes, you just have to have the time to do what it takes to help someone who needs help. This was a situation where I thought, if I had been missing my pet, if I was her, completely helpless, what would I want someone to do for me?"
Still, even though Vicki was game, she was also prepped for failure. Why would her posters get better results than the posters Kim and Jason had already put up?
After she taped her second poster to a San Diego wall, Vicki was surprised to find a lead.
"This really nice young woman pulled over and said that her mom had spotted this dog in the wooded area behind their house, but that (the dog) couldn't come to her when she called," Vicki says. "She brought me to her home, and said 'There, that's her.'"
Vicki remembers having one thought: "You've got to be kidding me."
Vicki spoke to other neighbors, who all confirmed the dog had meandered around the neighborhood for weeks.
Feeling assured that she wouldn't offer Kim false hope, Vicki called with the unbelievable news.
•••
Southwick was so caught up in what she describes as a "whirlwind of faith" that she ran out of her Phoenix home without locking the door – or securing a return flight. Instead, she sped down the highway to catch the first plane to San Diego.
"I just prayed and prayed on that plane, and said "Jesus, I know I am pushing it, but please let me have (Domino) back tonight'," Vicki says.
The two women – now practically old friends – met in a terminal at San Diego International Airport. Then they drove to the neighborhood where Domino was last seen.
Kim called out for Domino. And, within moments of hearing the familiar voice, Domino – a "white burst," according to Kim – emerged from the woods. She instantly resumed her role as Kim's pet, rolling on her back and wagging her tail frantically.
Vicki videotaped the incident and posted the video on YouTube.
"That laughter you hear?" Kim says of the video's 1:46 mark. "I did that for about 30 minutes."
Now, Vicki and Kim are looking into ways of providing other online services to other pet owners. One of their ideas is an improved "lost pet" Web site, as well as a site that would offer online support for people who are rescuing pets from public shelters.
For now, Kim spends her afternoons with Domino. The tiny dog survived the ordeal with only a thorn in her side and a small sore on one of her paws.
"She was extremely tired; probably slept with one eye open for three weeks," Kim says.
"I know she was waiting for me."
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnHUAeL3yWM
Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kim-domino-vicki-2384586-says-dog#
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