By Dale Huffman, Contributing columnist
12:39 AM Thursday, January 14, 2010
Meet Macy. She is an American Foxhound show dog; a vivacious brown and white dog with white legs who has style, spunk, and a strong will to survive.
According to her owner and handler, Larkin Vonalt, of Dayton View, when Macy wandered away from home, the ensuing adventure “seemed to bring out the very best in many caring people in the Dayton area who helped search for her.”
At Christmastime, Vonalt brought pastry treats to the entire staff and volunteers at Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Ave., to thank them for their help in locating the lost dog.
Vonalt and her husband, Elmer Lieu, were relatively new in Dayton, transplants from Montana, when the prized dog was able to wiggle through a space under a fence and escape from their property.
“I was devastated and panicked when Macy got loose,” Larkin said. “I put an ad in the Dayton newspaper, put it on Craigslist. I delivered posters all over town. I notified Fifth District police, and reported it to the animal shelter folks.”
Larkin visited a soup kitchen and recruited some homeless people who promised to be on the lookout.
“My mailman promised to keep his eye out, too. I asked for help from everyone. And the longer Macy was gone, the worse I felt.”
She even called the Dayton street maintenance department, every day, to see if her dog might have been struck by a vehicle.
Then, nine days later, a call came from Hospice of Dayton, where a nurse saw a dog that matched the photo on the poster.
“I rushed over there, on the other side of the river, on the other side of town, and staked out the area near the woods behind the beautiful setting,” Vonalt said.
“I spent a day waiting and watching. Nothing.”
She said she returned early the next day, at dawn’s first light, with a bowl of chicken, and a familiar turtleneck sweater she had worn, and placed the items at the edge of the woods.
“About 2 p.m. that afternoon, while sitting in my warm car, I thought I saw Macy at the edge of the woods. The Hospice maintenance man, who was waiting with me, stepped back so not to frighten the dog.”
She continued, “I sat on the ground and softly called, ‘Macy. Macy, it’s me.’ ”
Then, she said, “the dog flew to me. I was euphoric. It was a warm and tender reunion.”
Vonalt said the bottom line is that her personal ordeal confirmed in her opinion that the people in her new home of Dayton are “helpful, sensitive, caring ... just marvelous people.”
An example of the generous and caring spirit came the following day.
“A man delivering a package to my home from UPS knocked on my door, and noticed that the poster advertising the missing dog was missing from the door.”
She added, “I explained to him that the Hospice nurses helped find my Macy, and that she was home. The delivery guy smiled and did a little happy jig on my front step. That’s how good the people of Dayton are. They really care, and show it.”
Source: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/dale-huffman-missing-dog-saga-has-happy-end-492194.html?cxtype=rss_300275
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