Thursday, April 29, 2010

Tundra, Great Pyrenees

Missing Great Pyrenees Missing 3-1/2 Months Found in Tennessee
- K9 Kare
Date: 3/15/2010

Pet Sleuths, K9 Kare and her search and rescue dog named Loyal, spent three days in Western Tennessee to solve the case of the missing Great Pyrenees and help reunite the family with their lost pet after it ran away and was missing for 3-1/2 months from December to March 2010. We ruled out a half dozen bad leads out in the surrounding county. Finally, we tracked this dog's scent to a reliable food source that had been established by a local rescue group to aid feral cats. The dog was witnessed being picked up at a local business by a man claiming it was his dog. We got a description of the man with a ponytail and his older model 4-wheel drive vehicle.

It took two days working with local police and sheriffs departments to have our witness check a photo line up so we hopefully could identify the man in question. I was getting nowhere so I contacted the Police Chief in person. It turns out he too is an animal lover and allowed us to file a theft of property report to lawfully develop a digital lineup. However, after receiving the cooperation of both departments our witness became reluctant to help identify the man she saw. We knew through scent and eye-witness accounts that the dog escaped from the man's vehicle at a Tractor Supply Company. He had been seen at this location several times so I instructed the owner to keep our flyers on the bulletin board at his location and to inform every employee there that we believed the dog had been stolen and a police report had been filed. Everyday, the owner went back to this location to find only her Lost Dog Poster was removed while others remained undisturbed. This went on for days confirming our suspicions that someone at this location knew the man in question.

Within a few days, the dog either escaped again or was released by the man. I suspect it was the later and released the dog for fear of prosecution for property theft.

It took several more weeks to track the Great Pyrenees, named Tundra down The owner called me excited that someone had called stating a couple had her dog but they were traveling and took the dog with them but would return the dog in a few days. The owner spoke with the couple in possession of the dog and they even verified the dog had a broken lower canine tooth. The owner patiently waited for their return only to discover that it was not her dog, Tundra after all. It was another false lead!

The owner was devastated but I encouraged her to continued canvassing as instructed and about a week later she got the call that her dog had been spotted in the county just outside of town. She rushed over and found her dog. Initially, the dog didn't seem to recognize her and wouldn't respond to her name. With a little coxing Tundra gladly took the offer of a car ride and settled right down. The dog was taken to the vets immediately and was treated for lacerations of her paws and de-wormed.

The owner called me that evening to share the good news. She felt she had learned so much the experience of working with Pet Sleuths that she offered to start a local chapter and join us to reunite other families with their lost pets and work toward the prevention of lost pets. Bless her heart!

Source: http://petsleuths.com/blog/petsleuthblog/blog.html

No comments: