Monday, September 26, 2011

Paris, chihuahua

Welcome Home, Paris!
From the parents of Paris:
Craig and Lisa Sutfin

My husband was returning from a trip to California when he wrecked on I-40 between Seligman and Kingman, Arizona. Our 4 1/2 pound chihuahua panicked, and ran into the desert. She is not only a pet, but a service dog, as she awakens my husband (who is diabetic), when his blood sugar is low. She is a part of our family and we were devastated.

Paris and Deborah

The night of the wreck it was dark, cold, and snowing. My husband and my son spent several hours looking for her, along with the assistance of the owner of a local motel, who graciously took them out with flashlights to search. They were unable to locate her that night, which was Sunday. On Monday, they resumed the search, but to no avail. There were reports that traffic had slowed for a chihuahua in the median, so we were hoping that someone had picked her up.

In the meantime, I was placing ads in newspapers, radio stations, and on the internet. In the process of doing this, I saw a website where someone said they had lost their pet and that a pet detective found it. So, I called the first pet detective that came up in a google search. She was busy, but gave me the numbers of other pet detectives, one of whom was Deborah, who was within driving distance to Seligman. I contacted Deborah Monday night and she drove down Tuesday morning with her dogs Riley and Dudley. Deborah, my son, and the dogs tracked for 8 hours on Tuesday, finally reaching a point that the dogs would not go past. The decision was made to rest until the next day and hopefully they could get past that point.

On Wednesday, after several hours of trying, Deborah called me to to tell me that they were still unable to get past the one area, and that it might be a predator issue as there are coyotes in the area. As we were talking, a tow truck pulled up and her dogs began barking, so she got out of her vehicle to talk to me. We talked for another minute when she said "I've got your dog - I'll call you back" and hung up. Ten minutes later she called to say that she had my chihuahua safe and alive and evidently unhurt.

The miracles: Paris was found three miles from the wreck (what wonderful tracking Riley and Dudley did, through snow, ice, and horrible terrain). They left the lights on in the van, requiring the tow truck - if the tow truck had not pulled up then, when she needed to continue talking to me... she may never have seen my baby. A 4 1/2 pound chihuahua, subfreezing temperatures, coyotes, snow, and three nights in those conditions...need I say more? The wonderful people of Seligman, Arizona who did so many things to help. We are forever grateful to Deborah, the dogs, and the township of Seligman.

Paris, safe at home with Craig

Source: http://www.missingpetdetectives.com/Missing_Pet_Detectives/Welcome_home_Paris.html

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