Lexie, cattle dog

Connecting the Dots to Find Lexie
Told by Nancy Despeaux
September 1st, 2011

This is not a typical story of the type that I post to the Lost Dogs Found on most days. I usually find stories on the internet and share them. Only rarely do I write up stories myself. I'm not much of a writer, and there are too many stories out there to find for me to need to write them myself. In Lexie’s case, I’m writing the story, in part because I don’t think the story will get passed on if I don’t, and then because I find the chain of events that occurred to be interesting.  This story is, without a doubt, representative of so many, many stories out there that we never hear.

Amanda Williamson’s Blue Australian Cattle Dog was lost on Thursday August 25th while in the care of Star Dog day care in Charlotte NC. She is called Fee Fee, short for Felicia, and also answers to Phoebe. As of this writing (early Sept, 2011), Fee Fee is still missing in the Charlotte NC area, with enough sightings to keep the team energized. Hopefully Fee Fee will be found soon.

When Fee Fee disappeared, Amanda’s friends and family established a search team right away. Among many other efforts, posting heavily to Craigslist in Charlotte began from the start and continues, and a Help Find Fee Fee Facebook page was established. Followers can get regular and frequent updates on that page.

Kimberly McSwain is Amanda’s cousin, and she is a significant player on the search team working to find Fee Fee. Among other things, Kimberly participates in posting ads Craigslist, and updates on the Help Find Fee Fee FB page. Kimberly received an email in response to one of the many Craigslist ads posted, from someone in Greenville NC, that found a female cattle dog there. The email included three photos of the dog, and it was easy to see that the dog was not Fee Fee (never mind that Greenville is more than 4 hours west of Charlotte). But, knowing that sharing ANYTHING with supporters wanting updates is important, Kimberly then reported on the Help Find Fee Fee page that she had recieved photos of a cattle dog found in Greenville. While cleverly managing to keep the focus of the update on finding Fee Fee, Kimberly stated that if anyone wanted to see the photos, she had them handy to forward by email.

Debra Kosch is founder and administrator of the Lost & Found Dogs - NC Facebook page (and sister pages for Virginia and the DC Metro Area). Debra’s quest is to keep dogs out of shelters, and she focuses on doing this by helping reunite lost dogs and their people - before they get to a shelter if possible, or from the shelter if they make it there before being found by their families. Debra works tirelessly (or, more likely, she exhausts herself!!!) to share information about and photos of specific lost, found and sighted dogs; educating people on how to search for lost dogs and for owners of found dogs; and to make matches herself using whatever information sources she can find.

Lexie's photo taken by the good Samaritan that found her

Debra saw Kimberly’s update on the Help Find Fee Fee Facebook page within no time of its posting, and immediately responded by comment with a request that Kimberly post the photos of the found cattle dog to the Lost &Found Dogs - NC Facebook page. Kimberly did this right away, and the pictures were up on the Lost & Found Dogs NC wall within 6 minutes. Debra shared the post immediately, which means that it went out to the hundreds of FBers that Like the page. She tagged the Huricane Irene Lost & Found Pets FB page, as well, so the information and photo that Debra posted could also be seen on that page right away.

Paige, of Paige 'n' All Dogs, is a pet groomer in Winterville NC, a suburb of Greenville, and she may have stumbled on to the Lost & Found Dogs NC Facebook page (or possibly the Hurricane page) when the photos of the found cattle dog were posted. Since Paige typically posts assorted items of general interest to dog lovers on her Facebook wall, she shared the Found Cattle Dog photo on her own Facebook wall within an hour of its posting on the Lost & Found Dogs NC page. It made sense given that the dog was found in her area.

Heather Brown is a pet sitter/dog walker in Winterville NC; she owns Crazy Mutt which serves Pitt County. Heather and Paige are friends, so Heather may have seen Paige’s post either while reading her own wall or while on Paige’s wall. She immediately responded (excitedly, I might add!) via a comment that she knew the dog in that photo. This was about three hours after Paige had shared it on her wall.

Three weeks earlier (so around August 10th), a client dog of Heather’s had escaped during a storm – a female cattle dog named Lexie, who belongs to Terri & Linn Moore. Although frantic and desperate to find their dog, Terri and Linn’s efforts had not connected them directly to the good Samaritan that found Lexie.

Shanna  Daniel found Lexie, in Greenville, and she kept her safe while she searched on Craigslist for lost dog ads. She saw the ads in search of Fee Fee. Since Charlotte is over four hours west of Greenville, Shanna probably extended the search beyond the local Craigslist, which should have been East Carolina Craigslist. Fee Fee’s ads in Charlotte Craigslist couldn’t be missed! Lexie's good Samaritan Shanna is certainly to be commended for conducting so exhaustive a search for the found dog's family!

So you can see that each cog in the wheel was critical. Try eliminating any one of them, and there would likely be no reunion. This happens all the time with reunions of lost dogs, so there are lots of unsung heros out there. But at Lost Dogs Found, we are singing your praises -- Kimberly and HFFF, Debra and L&FD NC, Paige N All Dogs, Heather and Shanna!