Kenny, beagle

Owner reunited with dog, arrest warrant filed for man who stole truck, beagle
Lori Wolfe/The Herald-Dispatch
Oct. 27, 2011

Bob Fannin of Milton reunites with his lost beagle, Kenny, on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, near Culloden. The beagle was inside Fannin's truck when it was stolen outside of a Culloden barbershop on Tuesday.

CULLODEN – The barking sound of a beagle reunited the dog and its owner Thursday, nearly 48 hours to the minute that a thief stole Bob Fannin’s truck with his dog inside at a barbershop in Culloden.

That act separated the beagle named Kenny from its owner for the first time in nearly seven years. The two were reunited midday Thursday on a ridge top along Signal Road.

Fannin’s son-in-law, Dwayne Carter, heard the first bark. Fannin eventually heard another, but the 66-year-old didn’t truly believe it was his beagle’s voice until he saw Kenny riding an all-terrain vehicle up and out of a hollow with Carter and a family friend.

Fannin could only compare the rush of emotion that followed to the feeling of shock and dire helplessness he endured when a thief sped away in his Ford F-150. This time sadness and anger were replaced with pure joy.

“It was just unbelievable,” he said. “It was like a member of your family being lost and now they are found.”

Kenny, a one-time rabbit chaser, returned to his “retirement home” for a bath, Fannin said. He described his beagle to be healthy, although he was obviously wet, cold and hungry.

Meanwhile, deputy sheriffs from Cabell and Putnam counties searched for Stephen Reed. The Cabell County Sheriff’s Office filed an arrest warrant Thursday morning charging the 29-year-old from Culloden with felony grand larceny, said Sgt. Todd Wentz. Anyone with information about Reed’s whereabouts should call 911 or the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office at 304-743-1594.

Fannin vowed to closely follow Reed’s case, but Thursday was a time for reunion. The surprising strength of Kenny’s bark was one reason his master hesitated to believe a homecoming was imminent.

“His voice seemed a little bit strong,” Fannin said. “You know, to be out in the woods and be an older dog like that, I didn’t think he could bark that loud, but he did.”

Guilt was a prominent feeling Fannin endured throughout the 48 hours of separation. He blamed himself for his dog’s disappearance. That’s because he had defied the advice of others, who had warned Fannin about leaving his vehicle unlocked with the keys in the ignition.

Fannin left those items that way Tuesday so the air conditioner would keep his riding buddy cool. The truck was fairly close to the barbershop, and Fannin only expected to be inside for a few minutes. It was something he had done over and over, but one thing he vowed to never do again.

The reason for Fannin’s one-time habit was in part due to the duo’s closeness. The master and his beagle travel about town and everywhere together. They are partners. So much so that Fannin estimates his vacation to New Jersey seven years ago was the last time they were apart.

“He’s just more or less a companion,” he said. “He leaves with me, and he comes home with me.”

That closeness was in part what drove the family to great lengths to find Kenny. Their efforts involved the posting of a $1,000 reward, which was later matched by a woman in Jacksonville, Fla.

They also enlisted a friend’s airplane for an aerial search and did their own detective work. That included speaking with Reed’s girlfriend and his mother, along with speaking to pawn shops and others about the apparent suspect.

Fannin’s daughter, Kathy Carter, said they didn’t worry about going too far.

“We’re just going to give it all we’ve got,” Carter said Thursday morning as volunteers gathered for the ground search that would lead to Kenny’s rescue.

The beagle lives at home with Fannin and his wife, Deborah. They’ve been married for 30 years. Fannin, a retired contractor, said his wife doesn’t get jealous of the love Kenny and his master share.

Wentz joined deputies from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday in a four-hour search for Reed. They went to various prior addresses with no success. The arrest warrant was then forwarded to the U.S. Marshal’s Service C.U.F.F.E.D. Task Force who will continue the search in earnest.

“It will just be a matter of time,” Wentz said speaking of Reed’s arrest.

Fannin’s truck was discovered late Tuesday afternoon at a subdivision along Bills Creek Road near Winfield, W.Va. Authorities credit Reed’s girlfriend with calling police and alerting them to the truck’s location, according to information provided by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

Putnam County Lt. R.E. Harrison said Thursday his deputies continue to collect evidence in the case. He said if investigators find evidence that places Reed in Fannin’s vehicle, deputies will then confer with prosecutors to contemplate a charge of felony receiving/transferring stolen property.

Authorities last spotted Reed on Wednesday in a wooded area along W.Va. 817, Harrison said.



Source: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x2018259281/Owner-reunited-with-dog-arrest-warrant-filed-for-man-who-stole-truck-beagle
Additional video at: http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Truck_Stolen_with_Dog_Inside_132657543.html

Huckleberry, jack russell terrier

TV model reunited with stolen pet dog
By Camilla Goodman and Steve Bax
Oct 27 2011

Former model and TV personality Paula Hamilton's dog, Huckleberry, was stolen from her Farnham Royal home on October 12.

A TV star and old flame of Simon Cowell has been reunited with her pet dog after it was kidnapped and sold by the thieves.

Former model and television personality Paula Hamilton's dog Huckleberry, a tan coloured terrier cross, was taken from her home in Farnham Royal on Wednesday, October 12.

It is believed the dog was kidnapped and sold on for £150. The police are investigating the kidnap.

Thankfully Huckleberry was safely returned home by a woman who spotted an article in the Slough Observer.

Ms Hamilton said in a statement on her website: "I can't thank her enough. I would just like to say a huge thanks to everyone who helped and for all the kind wishes and thoughts.

"Hucks is back – half his weight, which wasn’t much to start with, but with a great healthy diet and lots of love and affection I'll soon have him back to his old self."

Ms Hamilton dated music mogul Simon Cowell when the pair were at school together in Slough. She achieved fame in the 1980s after appearing in an iconic TV advert for Volkswagen and, following a modelling career, became a judge on the Living TV show Britain's Next Next Model in 2006.

A spate of dog thefts in Bucks have prompted the RSPCA to issue advice on how to keep your pet safe.

Nicola Walker of RSPCA East said: "Microchipping a pet gives them the best chance of being identified and returned if they become lost or stolen. Thousands of pets are lost every year and many are never reunited with their owners - microchipping can change that.

"We would also urge pet owners to take photographs of their pets, to keep as a record, and to also take notes and photographs of any unusual markings. A thorough description and photo of your pet, will help the police in any hunt for stolen animals."

Source: http://www.buckinghamshireexaminer.co.uk/south-bucks-news/local-buckinghamshire-examiner-news/2011/10/27/tv-model-reunited-with-stolen-pet-dog-114018-29674722/
Original story with the plea for help here

Maggie Mae, maltese-yorkie

Tail-Wagging Ending to Lost Dog Tale
Maggie Mae's owner encourages everyone to microchip their pets.
By Carol Parker
October 25, 201

Two months and one week after Maggie Mae, a tiny Yorkie-Maltese mix from Oregon went on the lam while vacationing in Alameda, she was recovered and reunited with her relieved owner.

Maggie Mae before she went missing

Last week Janice Reese raced back to Alameda to collect her pet after she had all but given up hope of ever seeing Maggie Mae again. Monday night, Oct. 17, Reese and her Bay Area relatives and friends toasted Maggie Mae's return at a celebratory dinner.

Now, Reese says, she wants the near-tragic incident to become a teachable moment for other pet owners and is urging them to microchip their pets.

"If Maggie Mae had been chipped," she says, "she might have been recovered and returned to me sooner. I want everyone to consider having their pet microchipped so they can be identified, if lost. You never think your pet will escape and run away, until they do. It can happen so quickly and to anyone."

Maggie Mae was reunited with Reese after a convoluted series of events that ultimately led to the dog being brought to the Alameda Police Department, where it was relinquished and then turned over to Reese's daughter until Reese could return to the Bay Area to collect her pet.

Reese said she is enormously grateful to the Alameda Police Department for their work on the matter and to Alamedan Diane Stohner, who dilligently looked for the animal and helped crack the vanishing dog case.

Stohner saw the dog the day it went missing with a man and a woman who told her they were looking for its owner. She noticed that the dog had an Oregon rabies tag. She also remembered seeing a car with Oregon license plates in the neighborhood.

Stohner ultimately tracked down Reese's daughter, who lived in the neighborhood, and confirmed that Reese, who had been visiting from Oregon, had lost her dog.

Despite Stohner and Reese's family going door to door and posting flyers all over town and at shelters and veterinary offices, Maggie Mae's disappearance remained a mystery for many weeks.

Then the weekend of Oct. 15-16, quite by happenstance, Stohner spied the man she'd seen with the dog again and confronted him about the animal's whereabouts. Ultimately Alameda police were called in, and two hours later a woman, who Reese and Stohner said was an acquaintance of the couple, delivered the dog to the police department.

Although the circumstances of Maggie Mae's time on the run are somewhat murky, Reese says only an incident report was filed with the police department and no charges are being pressed against anyone. Reese said she hopes the experience will be a lesson for pet owners everywhere.

Even if animals were wearing identification tags at the time they went missing, she said, those tags can be removed or lost, and that could make it difficult or impossible for a shelter or veterinarian to positively identify the pet.

Reese said Maggie Mae is glad to be back home in Oregon and is getting settled into her familiar routine.

Stohner said she too is relieved Maggie Mae is safely home. Months of pounding the pavement in search of the dog consumed much of her time, as it did for Reese's daughter.

"I'm just so glad Jan, whose husband had died just one week before the dog's disappearance, has Maggie back," said Stohner. "Thankfully, even after all this time there was a happy ending to the story."

Source: http://alameda.patch.com/articles/tail-wagging-ending-to-lost-dog-tale
Another version of the story is at: http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19207585?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com

Petie, Jack Russell Terrier

Tennessee dog that wound up in a Michigan backyard heads back home
9:48 AM, Oct. 26, 2011

A Jack Russell terrier lost since July is on his way home to Tennessee, thanks to a chip implant and a volunteer from the Michigan Humane Society.

More photos of Petey are at: http://news.yahoo.com/tenn-dog-missing-3-months-turns-mich-124713722.html

Four-year-old Petey was discovered wandering in a backyard in Rochester Hills, according to the humane society.

His 73-year-old owner, Jim Arrighi, has been searching for him since the dog wandered away from his yard July 28 in Erin, Tenn., Arrighi's stepdaughter, Tyanne Morrison, 54, said today.

"He’s tickled to death," Morrison said about her stepfather, who lives in a house the other side of Muster Ground Creek from her, in a county west of Nashville with a population of 7,000 people. "We’ve hunted and hunted everywhere. He’s had pictures put in the paper. We put posters up everywhere. We rode around on four wheelers in the area, so we knew he wasn’t hit by a car."

Arrighi's wife of 37 years, Juanita, 77, died Oct. 12, so he believes she helped Petey return home, Morrison said.

"That’s what he thinks -- he truly thinks that," Morrison said. "A lot of people think that. They think she was looking over him

Nancy Greiser of Wayne, an MHS foster parent and volunteer since 2009, was leaving today to drive Petey back home.

Petie back home

She was one of 76 volunteers who offered to drive Petey home -- and she was the one that said she could leave immediately, spokesman Kevin Hatman said.

"How can you not have your heartstrings tugged?" said Greiser, in between Petey jumping for treats she held out in front of her in the yard of the Rochester Hills humane society facility. Greiser's been volunteering with the Michigan Humane Society's Berman Center for Animal Care in Westland since she retired from teaching medical billing and coding at an adult education facility about two years ago. She and her friend expect to make the 10-hour trip today, and they'll stay overnight at a bed-and-breakfast in Erin, Tenn., that offered them free accomodations.

The reunion is scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. at Arrighi's house in Tennesee, or 10 a.m. in our time zone.

"I said nobody can cry when we show up," Greiser said.

Petey's family thinks he could have been stolen outside a nearby restaurant by a passerby. No one truly knows how Petey made the nearly 600 mile trek from Erin to Rochester Hills. But when Petey was brought to the Michigan Humane Society's Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care, workers there identified him when they scanned him and discovered Petey was implanted with a $70 microchip.

Aaron Jerome a customer service representative and animal care technician at the Rochester Hills Michigan Humane Society plays with Petey, the 4-year-old Jack Russell Terrier today. Petey will be reunited with his owner Jack Arrighi of Erin, Tenn. Watch the video at: http://bcove.me/fbav6xd7

"This story put a smile on the faces of our entire adoption center team," said Marcelena Mace, shelter manager at the MHS Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care. "It's wonderful when we see microchip reunions, including those that seem like miracles. It really proves that no matter how far your pet may travel, a microchip can help him find his way home!"

He's expected to get quite a reception at Arrighi's home, Morrison said. Petey's been on the news as far away as Nashville, so his reunion is expected to be the talk of the town on Thursday.



"We were going to meet them in Cincinnati, but they offered to bring him all the way," Morrison said. "It’s just really nice of them."

Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20111026/NEWS06/111026012/Dog-from-Tennessee-turns-up-Michigan-back-yard?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
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Video here

Another version of the story is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/jim-arrighi-lost-dog-tennessee-found-michigan_n_1032653.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
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Follow-up after Petie returned home: http://www.detnews.com/article/20111027/METRO/110270463/1409/Missing-terrier-Petie-reunited-with-owner-in-Tennessee

Herbie, Brussels griffon

Herbie's home!
Chris Dabovich, San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Carol Morgan, left, and Kathleen Crawford tend to Herbie

Herbie is home nine days after the tiny Brussels griffon went missing from Jim and Kathleen Crawford's Benson home.

At 6:15 p.m. MST Tuesday, Herbie made way into a trap set by Benson City Animal control, much to the surprise and delight of those who sought his return.

Carol Morgan, in Benson from the Phoenix suburb of Sun City West and helping look for the dog, is ecstatic.

"I'm just so happy," she said. "I was beginning to lose hope."

It happened rather non-chalantly.

"I was watching the ballgame and heard a noise in the trap and decided I'd go see what it was and there he was. I couldn't believe it," said Jim Crawford.

Kathleen Crawford concurred. "I'm very relieved. It was very nerve racking and stressful," she said. "It was hard to get any sleep and it was scary.

Herbie appeared relieved as well and settled in comfortably with Morgan, licking her face and cuddling.

Morgan, who was the dog's foster owner for eight months after Herbie had been removed with 26 other griffons from a bad West Phoenix home, has decided to bring Herbie back to Sun City West.

The Crawfords adopted the dog and Morgan drove Herbie to their home on July 22. The following morning Herbie escaped. He was seen Monday and had not been at all Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the News-Sun continues to get responses from throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe from people wanting to know Herbie's plight.

"We are totally overwhelmed by the response from around the world," said Morgan.

They'll surely be glad to know this story had a happy ending.

On Tuesday, a third international moment of prayer went out for Herbie's safe return.

"It's a miracle," said Morgan.

A Brussels griffon is a breed of toy dog characterized by a short face, large eyes, and a short nose. The breed has a Belgian lineage and is named after a mythological animal called a griffin.

Source: http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2006/08/01/news/anews.txt
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Sam I am, golden retriever

A fetching finish for a 2-year mystery
Dog lost in Florida turns up in Illinois
By Charles Sheehan, Tribune staff reporter.
December 15, 2006

Alice Baines could not find him on the block. She could not find him near the dock. She could not find him here nor there. She could not find him anywhere.

But two years after a hurricane blew down a back-yard fence in Florida and set free a golden retriever named Sam-I-Am, the wayward pooch was found in McHenry County.

In the most unlikely of reunions Thursday night, Sam-I-Am ran across the tiled floor at O'Hare International Airport and rested his head on the arm of owner Baines, who flew to Chicago from her home in Tampa to retrieve him.

"I can't believe it," she said. "This kind of thing doesn't happen."

Veterinarians in McHenry County were stunned as well when they discovered a microchip in the scruff of the dog's neck that placed his home more than 1,200 miles to the southeast.

"I've never seen anything like it," said McHenry County animal control officer Sean Graff.

`Have you got him?'

On Thursday night, Brett Baines, 9, waited in Florida for the return of his canine pal. The boy last saw the dog in 2004 after the hurricane ripped up a fence outside the family's home.

"He is so excited, I have 10 messages on my phone," Baines said. "Each one says, `Have you got him? Have you got him? Have you got him?'"

Just how Sam-I-Am made the journey from Tampa to Johnsburg, a small town on Pistakee Lake in McHenry County, may never be known.

A resident found the 5-year-old dog wandering along Circle Court earlier this week and took him to the McHenry County animal shelter.

Though few animal owners take advantage of relatively cheap microchip technology, veterinarians in McHenry County do a routine scan of all dogs brought to the shelter, said Dr. Edin Mehanovic, the animal control administrator.

McHenry County officials called the veterinarian who had placed the chip in Sam-I-Am when he was a puppy, whose office Baines said she had been calling on and off since the hurricane.

"I just kept checking and yesterday around 5 o'clock, they called and said, `We got a call from Illinois and we have a chip match,'" Baines said. "They said, `It's him, it's got to be him.'"

Baines booked the first flight to what she called "the Land of Oprah."

For all the mileage, it appears that Sam-I-Am is no worse for the wear.

"The dog is in very good shape," Mehanovic said. "I can't see how the dog could walk that far."

Microchip costs $40

Mehanovic and Graff said Sam-I-Am is a poster pup for microchip technology. Implanting a chip costs about $40, Graff said.

"This is a perfect example of what a microchip can do," Graff said. "A dog can lose a collar or someone can take it off, but the microchip never comes off."

Source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-12-15/news/0612150156_1_microchip-technology-animal-shelter-dog
Other versions of the story at:
http://scoobyk9.blog.ca/2006/12/15/sam_i_am_home_for_christmas~1442432/
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/NEWS/212170345/1002/stateRSS&source=RSS&tc=ar

Poppy, terrier

Missing dog turns up 30 miles away
Friday 21st October 2011

A MISSING dog has been reunited with its delighted owners after being found in kennels more than 30 miles away – triggering an internal police investigation.

Ruby Fletcher with her family’s pet dog Poppy

Poppy, a nine-year-old terrier breed, was found in the kennels in East Yorkshire following an extensive search by her owners, almost a week after going missing from her home in Lastingham Terrace, Fulford.

The owners believe Poppy travelled so far before being picked up by police, but then ran away after a member of staff at Fulford Road police station took her to stay with their own family near Goole.

Poppy’s owners say no trace of their pet being picked up was registered with the police and if it had not been for their persistent search for her, they would have never been reunited.

An internal police investigation is now being held into the confusion over Poppy’s disappearance. Sarah Fletcher said: “I’m outraged. I feel we have not had a proper explanation. Poppy means everything to us as a family, especially to the children.

“My daughter was distraught every night. What we are seeking is some kind of apology from the police for not having in place any kind of procedure or any explanation from the person who took her.”

She said they were only able to piece together what had happened to Poppy after tracking her down to the kennels in Leconfield, near Beverley.

Someone at the kennels told them their pet had been taken to the Goole area by someone working for York police, who had taken the dog to stay at their parents when she ran away.

A police spokesman said that as a formal complaint had been made, they were unable to comment in detail on the issue.

They confirmed: “A complaint has been reported and we are investigating it.”

Source: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9319143.Missing_dog_turns_up_30_miles_away/
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Cooper, Golden Retriever

Dog who was stolen with car reunited with family
Posted by Tiffany Smith, Sonia Moghe
Oct 22, 2011 1:11 p.m.

A dog who was sitting in his owner's car when it was stolen was reunited with his family today.



Kevin Miles was at Colonnade Restaurant on Cheshire Bridge Road on Wednesday night when his car was stolen with his dog, Cooper, sitting inside.

"I don't care in the least about the car, I just want my dog back," Miles said. "I've had the dog since he was a puppy, he's essentially a child to me."

His friends and family had turned his Midtown apartment into a command center and worked around the clock to get the word out about Cooper.


Miles got the call just before noon on Saturday saying that his dog had been found and was at the Dekalb County Animal Control Center.

Source: http://wgcl.m0bl.net/w/main/story/43754237/

Buster, American Bulldog

Louisiana trucker reunited with dog stolen in SD
Friday, August 26, 2011

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Louisiana truck driver who was reunited with his American bulldog just hours after it was stolen at a South Dakota gas station calls the dog's speedy return "the work of God."

Buster, where he should be!

Marc Cheramie, 48, of Gretna, La., tied Buster to a cage of propane tanks late Wednesday while he went inside the Sioux Falls station. When he came out, the dog was gone.

"I didn't have a lot of hope at the beginning. I was really depressed," Cheramie told the Argus Leader.

But about two hours later, a Highway Patrol trooper who stopped a woman for speeding on Interstate 29 and had heard the report about the stolen dog became suspicious when he saw a bulldog in the woman's car.

Alexandra Orlick, 19, of Flandreau, is charged with felony grand theft because Buster is valued at $1,200. She appeared in court on Thursday but did not offer a defense for the alleged theft. She was released on her own recognizance.

Cheramie said Buster was eager to get back to his master's truck after the incident.
"He knew it wasn't his fault but knew he hadn't been where he was supposed to be," Cheramie said.

Source: http://www.chron.com/news/article/Louisiana-trucker-reunited-with-dog-stolen-in-SD-2142317.php


Woman charged after dog stolen from trucker
Aug. 26, 2011

The Louisiana trucker whose dog was stolen from a gas station in Sioux Falls Wednesday night says the American bulldog's speedy return was "the work of God."

"I didn't have a lot of hope at the beginning. I was really depressed," said Marc Cheramie, 48, of Gretna, La. "I mean, I'm a full-grown man, and I was nearly in tears."

Cheramie stopped at the Pilot gas station at 5201 N. Granite Lane in Sioux Falls at about 11 p.m. Wednesday with his dog, Buster. He let Buster out of the cab of his truck, tied him to a cage of propane tanks outside and went inside to freshen up.

"I washed my hands, came out and he was gone," Cheramie said.

Within two hours, however, a Flandreau woman had been arrested on grand theft charges of taking Buster, and Cheramie had his travel companion back. The dog is valued at $1,200, which constitutes a felony under South Dakota law.

A South Dakota state trooper got suspicious when he stopped 19-year-old Alexandra Leigh Orlick for speeding just after 1 a.m. on Interstate 29. The patrolman saw the bulldog riding with her, Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens said.

The trooper heard the report about the stolen dog on his in-car radio.

Another trucker, Joe Saul of White River, was outside the Pilot station with his girlfriend petting Buster, which he called a very friendly dog, when the theft happened.

Orlick was sitting on the hood of her car around a bunch of friends, Saul said, and Buster kept looking through the station's window.

"I asked 'does anybody know whose dog this is,' and she jumped off the hood and said 'it's mine,' " Saul said. "The dog didn't go to her. It just kept looking."

Orlick fumbled with the knot, Saul said, which caught his attention.

"If you tie a knot, you should be able to untie it," he said.

Saul met Cheramie and told his story to the two officers who showed up to take the report. The trooper detained Orlick and charged her with one count of grand theft, a class six felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Orlick appeared in court Thursday afternoon and was released on a personal recognizance bond.
She also has a pending marijuana possession charge in Minnehaha County, according to court records, as well as pending charges for possession of alcohol by a minor and entering or refusing to leave in Brookings County.

Her record also includes a simple assault arrest and a handful of other misdemeanors, but the grand theft charge is her first felony. Orlick's father, who answered the number she listed in her court paperwork, said he hadn't heard about the incident.

On Thursday afternoon, Cheramie didn't know Orlick had appeared in court already, but he knew what she looked like. She was riding in the cruiser with the trooper when he returned Buster.
The 14-month-old dog wanted to go right back to his owner's truck, he said.

"He knew it wasn't his fault but knew he hadn't been where he was supposed to be," he said.
The Louisiana native said he was thankful to the trooper for his keen eye and to the officers for their kindness.

Orlick offered no explanation for the theft on Thursday afternoon.

"I really hope she learns her lesson and learns from her mistake," Cheramie said. "I'm a person who believes in forgiveness."

One source of this story:
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/louisiana-trucker-reunited-with-dog-stolen-in-sioux-falls/article_8bce0af0-cfe9-11e0-bb41-001cc4c03286.html

Bandit, cavalier/poodle mix

Lost Dog Reunited With Westport Family After One Year
By Chris Rueli
10/21/2011

After being missing for nearly one and a half years WASA reunites a dog with its family

In June of 2010, Bandit the cavapoo disappeared from her home in Westport, and it was not until October 2011 that she saw her family again.

The owners offered a $500 reward and later raised it to $1500. No results. On Friday, October 7, 2011, Westport resident and WASA (Westport Animal Shelter Advocates) president Julie Loparo and her daughter Callie spotted a small dog threading her way through busy traffic on Riverside Avenue.

They pulled over to the side of the road, got out of their vehicle and scooped up the frightened creature and brought her to Westport Animal Control. She was dirty, extremely matted and appeared to have had a litter of puppies at some time. Amy Scarella, a WASA volunteer, took the dog for a much-needed grooming to Greenfield Hills Grooming.

Afterwards, Amy showed a before and after picture of the displaced pooch to an acquaintance. The woman peered at the cell phone "after" image and gasped.

"This looks just like my friend's missing dog," the woman said.

Miraculously, it was the missing Bandit. Bandit was soon reunited with her overjoyed family.

While no reward has been requested by WASA, WASA remains hopeful that the family will consider making a donation to WASA in order to assist them in their mission to help homeless animals in Fairfield County.

Source: http://westport.patch.com/articles/lost-dog-reunited-with-westport-family-after-one-year#c

Anya, service dog

Missing Pearl service dog returned to owners
Posted: Jul 26, 2011
By Julie Straw



PEARL, MS (WLBT) - A missing service dog a Pearl family had feared stolen has been returned.

Anya is a 7 month old therapy dog for two year old Emily Thomas who has cerebral palsy. Friday evening the dog was stolen out of the backyard.

The Thomas family called 3 On Your Side for help. After our story aired Sunday night, a Pearl viewer recognized the dog.

The good Samaritan had grabbed Anya from a group of children in a Pearl neighborhood who admitted to taking the dog from the backyard.

The viewer kept the German Shepherd safe while trying to look for its owners.

Our story helped her find the Thomas family.

The dog's owners say Anya is home and is being spoiled.

Source: http://www.wlbt.com/story/15145785/missing-pearl-dog-returned-to-owners
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Morgan, black dog

Nabbed dog traced by helicopter
Last Updated: Friday, 12 March, 2004

A man whose dog was inside his caravan when it disappeared took the skies in Essex to search for his lost pet.

Geoff Hardy's caravan home disappeared from near Romford while he was at work.

After six days of searching he hired a helicopter from Southend to comb the county at £250 an hour and spotted the caravan after 40 minutes in the air.

His dog, Morgan, was found along with the caravan at a travellers' site in Rettendon. A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of theft.
Mr Hardy, 35, who has been living in the van while he worked away from his Leeds home, said he was close to despair after almost a week of fruitless searching for six-year-old Morgan.
“ There are about three million caravans in Essex and it was going to be a tall order ” said Duncan Bickley

He had tried the police, vets and dog kennels.

Hiring the helicopter was a desperate last resort in his hunt for missing Morgan, who he has owned from a 12-week-old puppy.

"That was the final thing I could do for my dog, I was so devoted to her," he said.

The helicopter charter company staff did not want to raise his hopes.

"Spotting a dog from 500ft is very, very slim indeed," said Duncan Bickley, of Direct Helicopters.

"I thought we might have a chance of finding the caravan, but there are about three million caravans in Essex and it was going to be a tall order."

Mr Hardy added: "There was a blind in the back of the caravan and it was ripped, I just spotted that curtain so I recognised it was my caravan."

He was relieved when he spotted his caravan but delighted when, after calling police, he was reunited with Morgan, who was found in a nearby shed.

"She has been by my side since she was a puppy and she was part of the family. It's excellent. I'm overjoyed," Mr Hardy said.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/essex/3506574.stm
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Jazzer, collie Alsatian cross

Jazzer the dog returned to Hereford man after 58 days
Einar Russell has owned Jazzer for seven years
17 October 2011

A disabled man in Hereford has been reunited with his dog after a 58-day search which involved a firm of pet detectives.

Jazzer, which was taken from outside a supermarket in August, was handed into a vets in the city on Friday.

Owner Einar Russell said his dog was in good health but "a little subdued" when he got her back.

"I don't think she quite figured out what was going on, but now she's perked up again and is her old self," he said.

Mr Russell contacted Animal Search UK which is based in Herefordshire.

The firm, which waived its fee for Mr Russell, organised house-to-house inquiries and a poster campaign.

Tom Watkins, the firm's founder, said: "I've never conducted an investigation where we have received as much interest from members of the public as this local case."

He said the exact circumstances of where the dog has been were "still unclear".

'Smiling faces'

Mr Russell said he "couldn't quite comprehend" that people would do so much to help in the search.

"I'm very grateful to the people who put her on Facebook, and there have been campaigns looking out for her, and loads of complete strangers who've stopped me and said they'd look out for her," he said.

He was given the collie Alsatian cross by some friends after he was injured in a car accident seven years ago. He has used a wheelchair since being injured.

Mr Russell describes 10-year-old Jazzer as a friend, and to some extent his passport to a social life, as taking her out for a walk gets him out and about.

He said residents have been delighted to see the two of them back together again.

"There are lots of smiling faces and waves and people beeping their car horns," he said.

"And the reaction when I took her to Tesco where she got stolen was quite overwhelming."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-15340415

Timmy, siberian husky

Dognapped husky returns after 3 1/2-year absence
By Janice Morse, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sunday, October 13, 2002

WHITEWATER TWP. — Three and a half years ago, someone severed a tie-out chain and apparently snatched Timmy, the doughnut-munching Siberian husky, from the porch of Bill Kohl's workshop.

Bill and Susan Kohl and daughter Renee, 14, with husky Timmy.

“Everyone in the shop loved him; he was just an exceptional pet, so friendly to everyone. In a way, I think that made it easier for someone to just come and take him,” said Tom Wernke, a family friend.

After exhaustive searches, the heartbroken Kohl family resigned themselves to believe they'd never see him again.

But around 7 a.m. Thursday — about 1,250 days later — there, on the workshop porch, was Timmy.

“He was laying right next to the post where he always laid; I couldn't believe it,” said Mr. Wernke, who works in a building near Mr. Kohl's shop. “I said, "Timmy?' And his ears perked up. ... I knew it was him.”

He phoned the Kohls: “You're not going to believe this: Timmy's back!”

After a joyful reunion, the family took the dog to his veterinarian Friday. He verified Timmy's identity by finding a cyst-removal scar.

Saturday, the family remained in disbelief as the dog lounged on the living-room floor.

“We're so glad to have him back, but it is kind of weird. I mean, when you have a dog gone for 3 1/2 years, you go on,” said Bill Kohl, who received Timmy as a gift in 1990. “Still, it's in the back of your mind. At least now we don't have to wonder where he is. I think we'll always wonder where he was.”

The Kohls wish Timmy could talk so he could answer the questions that have gnawed at them since he vanished in May 1999; Mr. Kohl's daughter, Renee, who turns 14 today, teases her mom, Susan, for talking to the dog too much.

Now 12 years old, Timmy walks with difficulty. He's on medication for pain and arthritis. “But he was having trouble walking before they took him,” Mrs. Kohl said. “And he'd been "fixed,' so they couldn't use him for breeding. So why did they take him? ... I hope they treated him well.”

The Kohls had worried that Timmy was being mistreated or even subjected to laboratory experiments — if he wasn't dead.

“We used to say, "Maybe he's with dad,' ” said Mr. Kohl, whose father, Will, died shortly after Timmy disappeared. Will Kohl had a close bond with Timmy — and Timmy would howl for the doughnuts he brought to Kohl Patterns, which makes patterns for foundry castings.

As Will Kohl suffered from pancreatic cancer, it would have meant so much to have Timmy by his bedside, the Kohls said.

While the family resents missing 3 1/2 years of Timmy's life, they say they're not out to “get” whoever took him; they want someone to clear up the mysteries about him.

Because he was clean and well-groomed, the Kohls doubt he wandered back home; someone must have dropped him off.

“Maybe their conscience finally got to them,” Mrs. Kohl said. “Or maybe somebody decided he was too old and sick to bother with anymore.”

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/10/13/loc_dognapped_husky.html

Mocha/Tessa, weimeraner

Missing dog found ‘safe, sound and smelly’
Wendy Gillis
October 08, 2011

Mocha, who is also called Tessa, was reunited with her joyful owners on Saturday after being missing for 10 days. Mocha was a rescue dog from Greece.

Ten days after she went missing, Mocha — a stray Greek dog that was brought to Canada last month — has been found.

“We’re tired and ecstatic,” said Cain Knoechel, Mocha’s owner, adding the dog is “safe, sound and smelly.”

Mocha, or Tessa as she’s also called, was found near Greenwood and Sammon Aves., around 3 p.m. Saturday.

A family living in the area called Knoechel, thanks to a home phone number on the dog’s collar, after Mocha was spotted hanging around behind a shed.

Mocha had only been in the country for 10 days before she ran away near Taylor Creek Park in late September. The dog came to Canada through Tails from Greece, a Toronto charity that finds Canadian homes for Greek stray dogs.

For days, the 2-year-old Weimaraner eluded search efforts, despite a round-the-clock hunt and consultation with an animal psychic. Searchers scoured the area of Woodbine Ave., Main St., Danforth Ave. and Lumsden Ave., calling “ella Mocha” (the Greek word for come).

When she got home, she went straight to the food and water dish — though Knoechel said she thinks people in the area were giving Mocha treats.

The dog herself is not a “happy, jumpy dog” — since her return, she’s spent all her time in bed, so it’s hard to know how Mocha feels, her owner says.

“But we’re ecstatic. She’s a keeper.”

Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1067099--missing-dog-found-safe-sound-and-smelly
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Pogo, pomeranian

Pogo - Florida
Lost on 9/16/2011, Alert Date 9/19/2011, Found 9/19/2011

After searching for three days, FindToto.com brought my dog back to me in less than thirty minutes!!!

My Pomeranian “Pogo” got out of the house on the afternoon of 9/16. We put up signs and went door to door and placed a posting on craigslist. We even went to the pound!

Then On 9/19 a woman read my ad on Craigslist and emailed me to tell me about FindToto.com. She said a neighbor told her about FindToto.com and they helped her get her lost dog back in less than 30 minutes.

I finished placing my order with FindToto.com at 3:40 in the afternoon on 9/19. At just a few minutes after four a neighbor about a mile away called to tell me her neighbor had Pogo and was looking for his owner.

Thank you so much FindToto.com! I will tell every pet owner I know about the wonderful service you provide!!!!

Source: http://www.findtoto.com/?action=success_stories_detail&id=6429

Pippi, B&W dog

Pippi's LostMyDoggie Success Story
Kaylan Yerex
Lost: 7/4/10, Found: 7/7/10

This service was a life saver. Some people think these kind of things are just going to rip you off, but it helped loads on the search to find my dog Pippi.

On our search, we put the flier this service made us in hundreds and hundreds of mail boxes all over Prosser WA. We have been working so hard talking to every single person we saw on the street.

We got many calls from people who saw the flier, and had seen her around town. Eventually it got to the point where we were handing fliers to people who had gotten the recorded message AND seen the fliers in town.

The fliers and recordings lead us to the most amazing people of Prosser WA, who spent their own time driving up and down streets calling her name, and going door to door handing out fliers.

Finally though, after many nights of not sleeping, and a lot of money spent on fliers and business cards, she was found by the husband of a woman at the printing store.

This morning (July 7th - missing for 3 days) at 7am we went to get 500 fliers printed at the printing store in Prosser WA. The rest of the day until around 1:00 pm we drove around like every other day, puting fliers in windsheild wipers, on door steps, in mail boxes, talking to everyone we could, in every neighborhood in this town.

I got a call from my dad (in Canada) telling me "someone from somewhere you printed papers this morning has a small black and white dog, with a purple collar"

So, we rushed down to the print shop as fast as possible, and there she was... sitting there tired and dehydrated but so happy to see us.

I now love Prosser WA, and Lostmydoggie.com

Source: http://www.lostmydoggie.com/your-stories.cfm

Molli, roof beagle

Roof dog, please come home
Things were off kilter for several weeks in Durant when Molli the beagle went missing from her roof top.
Jay Cridlin
September 26, 2003

DURANT - Molli picked the trick right up.

It began as soon as she discovered the staircase in Shirley and John Raulerson's back yard. The stairs once led to a sun deck above the garage; now, it's only shingles.

But that didn't matter to Molli, who delighted in scampering up the stairs each and every day with all the restraint one would expect from a jittery jumping-bean beagle pup like herself.

The indefatigable Molli loved to sit up there and watch trucks roar by, the drivers staring - always, without fail - at the tiny beagle perched on the roof.

Molli the Roof Dog has since become something of a neighborhood icon, one of those double-take oddities in rural east Hillsborough that drew gawkers from as far away as Brandon.

The roof was Molli's second home. Some nights, she slept there. Whenever Kayleigh and Bailey, the Raulerson children, ran across the front yard, Molli would run along with them, 6 feet above their heads.

But over the Labor Day weekend, the 11/2-year-old Molli went missing. It wasn't the first time. She'd burrowed under the hedges before. Her invisible electronic collar, Shirley says, wasn't worth its weight in kibble.

This time, Molli didn't come home. The Raulerson rooftop was empty. A few days after her disappearance, the only thing left was a sign on the marquee of Stevens Hardware next door:

LOST BEAGLE ROOF DOG IS MISSING

* * *

Once in a while, perplexed customers wander into Stevens Hardware.

"There's a dog on the roof behind the store!" they say.

"Yeah, I know," says owner Ronald Stevens. "She lives up there."

The store has been in the family for longer than Shirley and Ronald, siblings four years apart, can recall. Their parents owned a neighborhood grocery for decades before it became a hardware store in 1976. Ronald runs the store, and Shirley lives next door, in the house where they grew up.

For several years, the Raulersons owned Coda, a black Lab they adopted when Shirley discovered it walking alone on a beach. Coda was the first to discover the staircase in the backyard. The first to spend afternoons lounging on the roof. Coda, they say, showed Molli the way.

When Coda passed away a year ago, Molli became the Raulersons' family pet. When she turned up missing, Shirley asked her older brother to post a "lost dog" sign on the store marquee.

He happily obliged.

After all, pleas posted on the Stevens marquee are known for their happy endings. Nine years ago, John took Shirley out for a drive by the store, making sure to point out the block-letter message: "SHIRLEY, WILL YOU MARRY ME?"

On the other side, he posted a confident sigh of relief: "SHE SAID YES!"

A few days after Labor Day, the sign went up. Stevens thought the phrase "ROOF DOG" spoke volumes. Surely anyone who drove by on a daily basis would recognize Molli as the beagle from the roof.

Ronald began getting calls. He kept them to himself, thinking it best not to raise his sister's hopes.

Two people even called with what sounded like good news: They'd found a beagle, and thought it might be Molli the Roof Dog. Ronald checked, only to find that both were males.

Three weeks after Molli went missing, things weren't looking good.

"What did we do every night?" Shirley asked her daughter.

Kayleigh rubbed her cheeks. "Prayed."


* * *

Travis Lastinger was used to sharing. When you're the only boy in a family with four older sisters, it's tough to have any one thing that's yours, and only yours.

So for his 11th birthday, Travis knew exactly what he wanted. He'd ask his parents for something all his own, something he alone could keep and care for.

Travis wanted a pet. A dog. His dog.

He first noticed the perfect beagle when he and his mother, Carol, stopped in Durant for gas on her way to work. The dog was hungry and dirty, and had been hanging around the gas station all day, but Travis couldn't help but pet her.

All day long, he talked about "that pretty doggie." Hours later, on the way home, he looked out at the gas station and crossed his fingers.

Sure enough, there was the beagle, tied up outside. Apparently, she had been racing in the store all day, grabbing candy off the shelf.

Travis begged his mother to stop; he went inside and made a deal with the person in charge: If Travis promised he'd keep looking for the dog's owner, he could take her.

Travis was delighted. This beautiful puppy - Shiloh, he called her - was all his. He built her a pen and bed at their home near the Polk County line, and played with her every day when he got home from school.

So apparent was Travis' love for Shiloh that his older sisters couldn't bring themselves to mention they'd seen a lost dog sign in Durant.

It wasn't until Sept. 16, when Carol and Travis were on their way to help with one of his father's tree-trimming jobs, that Lastinger noticed the sign in front of Stevens Hardware.

She read the sign to Travis. There was also a telephone number.

"It's up to you, son, if you want to call or not," she said.

Tears welled up in Travis's eyes. But he knew what he had to do.

"Give me the phone, mama," he said. "I want to call."


* * *

In hindsight, Carol Lastinger doesn't know how she failed to recognize Molli, whom she's seen several times on the Raulersons' roof. Of course, at the time, neither she nor the gas station owners knew Molli had burrowed under the Raulersons' fence.

"I've seen her lots of times, but I never recognized her," Lastinger said. "From a distance, she looks bigger on the roof."

Travis was crushed, but Carol was so proud of her son that she thought again about his birthday wish.

On Sept. 18, the day they returned Molli to the Raulersons, Travis came home early to give her a bath and found a surprise waiting for him: Oreo, a hyperactive Jack Russell terrier puppy.

"He's the perfect pet for Travis," Lastinger said. "When it's time to go to bed, he runs and jumps in Travis' bed."

On Molli's first afternoon home, Kayleigh, 5, and Bailey, 4, took turns scratching her belly and shaking her paw. When Molli scampered up to the roof for the first time in three weeks, the kids leaped around below, giggling as she peered down at them.

Stevens and Raulerson, like the rest of the drivers on Keysville Road, watched and smiled.

Source: http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/26/Brandontimes/Roof_dog__please_come.shtml
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No picture of Molli, but here's a dog that was actually trapped on a roof and seriously needed help getting down! http://www.thematrixfiles.net/blog/dog-on-roof/

Then here's a cute story, with video, of a dog in Greeley CO that spends his days hanging on the roof of his home. It's a much safer situation than the one pictured above, and surely Molli's situation was safer, too: http://www.9news.com/dontmiss/190170/630/Top-dog-hangs-out-on-roof-top-

Henry, hound lab mix

With Storm Coming, Pet Detective Locates Lost Dog
By Michelle Hiskey
January 10, 2011

The owners of a dog lost near Mason Mill Park hired a pet detective, and now Henry's home.

Eddie Stenehjem hugs Henry after his return Sunday -- just before the storm hit.

By Sunday morning, Henry had been missing almost four days. The big winter storm forecast added to his owners’ worries. They had put up posters and gone to animal shelters looking for their 1-year-old mutt. The shelters turned up nothing except memories of adopting Henry from one as an abused puppy.

“Just fear of him being alone on the streets,” said Eddie Stenehjem, Henry’s owner who lives near Ponce de Leon Avenue and Clifton Road, of what made him and his wife pay a professional to recover their dog. “Fear is a great motivator.”

Eddie’s wife, Sarah Stotz, searched online for help. She found the website for Carl Washington, a nationally-known pet finder based near Augusta.

He’s no Ace Ventura. Washington makes $900 a day, with no shortage of work. On Friday, he instructed Henry’s owners exactly what to put on their posters, where to put them and where to search.

When Henry didn’t show after 24 hours, the detective came on the scene in a white SUV plastered with his business sign and Henry’s picture.

On Sunday morning, Washington parked on Desmond Drive just off Clairmont Road, about a half mile south of where Henry had bolted four days earlier from his pet sitter’s home.

Two trained tracking dogs in the back of the SUV barked, ready for Washington’s phone to ring with their next lead.

Rocky, a Jack Russell terrier, and CoCo, a poodle, have solved cases from New York to California. They race the clock; a scent lasts only three hours.

Hopefully, the third tracking dog wouldn’t be needed: Gizmo, a terrier mix trained to find cadavers.

“I give him [Henry] an 85 percent chance of being found,” said Washington, who had searched overnight Saturday for Henry in the neighborhoods around Mason Mill Park.

“He’s got some hound in him and the weather’s not bad – yet. In this brush, a dog will burrow down and stay warm.”

His phone rang. Henry had been spotted near Toco Hill Shopping Center. Washington took off.

Stenehjem later recalled what happened next. He, his wife and eight friends joined Washington and his tracking canines. For four hours, they combed the area around Azalea Circle.

They knew Henry would be elusive and had said so on their posters: “Call if you have him, or see him and can’t catch him – he’s very shy.”

But Henry’s odyssey ended when he passed through a gate into a fenced yard.

“Fortunately there was only one way in and out,” Stenehjem said.

Finding Henry “was indescribable,” he said. “It was like bringing home a child.”

As for Washington, it was another solved case – the result that had earned him coverage on Fox and CNN, and a pilot for Animal Planet.

“I’m glad I didn’t end up doing that,” said Washington, 54, of the TV series. “You could be out there showboating while pets are dying.”

Instead, Henry was back, and Washington was headed to his next case.

Source: http://northdruidhills.patch.com/articles/with-storm-coming-pet-detective-locates-lost-dog

Windy, terrier

Windy Blows Back Home
Dog reunited with humans after 9 months missing
By Bruce Felps
Tuesday, Oct 4, 2011

Sarah Carroll reluctantly admitted she abandoned hope of again seeing her dog Windy alive.

Windy went missing more than nine months ago, a few days shy of Christmas, when Carroll’s son left open the door to their Garland apartment.

Carroll’s fear, she said, was that the dog might have been hit by a car or snatched up for use as training bait in a dog fighting ring.

Sept. 30, though, brought unexpected and welcomed news. Garland Animal Services called Carroll to say a microchip scan identified a dog in their care as Windy, and the wheels of reunion began to turn, fast.

That emotional reunion was captured on video, and it’s pretty clear Windy recognized her human.

Diana Oats, animal services manager for Garland, said animal services officers picked up Windy near the Carroll family’s former residence — the Carrolls had since moved to Dallas — and the dog might have been looking for the last home she knew.

Whatever Windy’s tale, Sarah Carroll of Garland then Dallas, and Windy of Garland, points unknown, Garland, and now Dallas, experienced the happiest of reunions because of a microchip.

Hello pet-people, a microchip. Are you listening?

Source: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/131059798.html

Zelda, Chihuahua

Zelda's FindToto.com Success Story
Narrative by Emily
Lost 9/21/2011, Alert Date 9/23/2011, Found 9/25/2011

The phone alerts went out Saturday morning as we had expected. We waited by our phones impatiently all day, but as the sun started to go down we were already losing hope.

We had put up flyers the day she disappeared, called the Animal Control Officer, called the pound and contacted several veterinarians in the area but we had no idea how far she could have traveled since she ran away. We felt lost and helpless, especially since she had acted in a way that we had never anticipated.

We believed that we had no one to blame but ourselves. So we went out to eat that night, knowing that we could do nothing more as long as it was dark. This was Zelda's fourth night on her own. We had convinced ourselves that we would never see her again, that either she starved to death or something else got to her before we did. We wanted to remain hopeful, but we also had to remember that this was a 4 lb. chihuahua wandering around alone in forests full of coyotes the size of german shepards.

While out eating dinner, mourning our lost companion, we unexpectedly received a call from neighbors down the street that had received the phone alert from that morning. She was remarkably close by, and had been eating from their compost pile for the past two days.

They had seen her that evening, tried to get close, but she ran off into the woods without giving them a chance to call her name.

Finally, a glimmer of hope. We were now able to focus our search but the question still remained: Would she come to us if we saw her or would she run away ?

The next morning we set out as early as we could to scour the woods around our neighbors' house, calling her name and hoping for a some kind of sign. We eventually became discouraged and left a bowl of her food near the compost pile she had been eating from, and decided to come back later in the evening when we might be able to see her.

We drove back home and rested for only a few minutes before getting our second wind, at which point we went back to the neighbors house to find her bowl empty.

It hadn't been that long. Could she have eaten it or was it another animal ? I had to find out. I put a little more food in the bowl and waited behind a shed to watch and see what happened.

After only a few minutes, I turned over my shoulder to see Zelda walking cautiously out of the woods towards her bowl.

She hadn't seen me yet, but I said her name, faintly; I couldn't believe my eyes. This was the moment of truth; would she come to me or run away ?

Those few seconds of time were so dreamlike. She turned to me, I called her name again, and she walked over me, picking up her pace, and ran right to my arms, tail wagging. I couldn't stop crying. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

Our baby girl was finally back, and save for a few ticks and some muddy patches of fur, she was perfectly fine.

Thank you FindToto.com ! Our family is back together because of you.

Source: http://www.findtoto.com/?action=success_stories_detail&id=6462

Minnie, American Staffordshire

Missing dog makes her way home
Kelli Downey
20th September 2011

Jason Hodgson is delighted to have his pet dog Minnie back after she disappeared from his Yarwun home more than three months ago.

"I HAD given up. I thought someone had stolen her."

Jason Hodgson never thought the day would come when he saw his pet dog Minnie again.

Three months ago the American Staffordshire cross Irish wolfhound disappeared from Mr Hodgson's Yarwun home.

After many hours of searching, he and his family had given up all hope of seeing the dog again.

"It's all a bit of a mystery," Mr Hodgson said.

"We keep her in an enclosure during the day when my wife and I go to work and the kids are at school."

But in early June the family returned home to find the enclosure still locked and Minnie missing with no signs of her having escaped.

Her disappearance devastated Mr Hodgson, his wife Anita and children Jade, 16, and Joshua, 15.

As Minnie had never attempted to run away before, Mr Hodgson feared the beloved family pet had been stolen, possibly for the purposes of pig hunting.

"I travelled up and down the highway to try to find her - looking to see if she had been hit," Mr Hodgson said.

"About a week ago I packed up her bed and put it in the shed."

The breakthrough came on Monday when Mr Hodgson saw a photo of a dog he believed to be Minnie in The Observer, promoting Friends of RSPCA Gladstone's Dog Adoption Day.

Mr Hodgson went straight to the Adoptapet website to see if it was indeed his missing dog.

There were three photos of Minnie, who had since been renamed Jaz after being rescued from the pound by Friends of RSPCA on June 30.

Picked up from the pound as a stray, there is still one month where Minnie's whereabouts are unknown.

Mr Hodgson organised for a viewing of the dog on Tuesday and went to the Gladstone residence where she was being cared for.

"As soon as I called her name she came and went straight to the ute and tried to jump on the back," Mr Hodgson said. "She rode up front all the way home."

While a bit more subdued than usual, a relieved Mr Hodgson said Minnie had settled back in at home.

Mr Hodgson said he was extremely grateful to Friends of RSPCA for rescuing Minnie and taking such good care of her.

Friends of RSPCA Gladstone urges pet owners to microchip their animals so they can always find their way home.

Source: http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/story/2011/09/20/missing-dog-makes-her-way-home/

Jack, golden retriever

Victor Poleo Reunited With Missing Service Dog After Viewer Sees Story
Written by Meghan Packer
11:41 PM, Oct 5, 2011

Providence, NC -- A Caswell County man has been reunited with his missing service dog thanks to a News 2 viewer.

Video available here

Victor Poleo said his golden retriever, Jack, had been missing since Friday.

"We don't know that Jack was taken or whether he just ran away and got lost," said Poleo.

Jack is much more than just a pet to Poleo. He's a service dog that helps Poleo with his anxiety disorder.

"He's accompanied me to numerous places - shopping, Walmart and Lowes and the mall and to the doctors offices as well," said Poleo.

"He's able to sense somehow when I'm about to have an anxiety attack and he distracts me in such a way that oftentimes that attack is prevented," added Poleo. "He just kind of forces himself on me and requires my attention whether to pet him on the head or he just distracts me from my environment."

"It's been much better and much easier for me to have Jack than to take some of the medications that the doctors have prescribed to help me with those anxiety attacks," he said.

Poleo has had Jack for a little more than two years. He said it would cost about $15,000 to replace him and that cost is simply out of the question.

Minutes after the story ran at 11 p.m. Wednesday, Poleo received a call from a woman who said she knew where Jack was. She said the dog wandered to her brother's house and they have been taking care of him for the past few days.

They brought the dog to Poleo's house and he confirmed it was indeed Jack. The two are now happily reunited.

Source: http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/194158/1/Victor-Poleo-Reunited-With-Missing-Service-Dog-After-Viewer-Sees-Story

Takoda, siberian huskey

Stolen Marysville dog returned to family, thief still a mystery
By KING 5 News
10/5/2011

SEATTLE – A Siberian Husky that was stolen from a family’s backyard in Marysville last month was returned to its family Tuesday.

The thief who was caught on camera, however, still has not turned herself in.

Surveillance footage from the incident ten days ago showed a woman pulling the dog, Takoda, out of Ron and Colleen Smith's yard and pushing her into a mini-van which sped off. On the video, Takoda can be heard howling as she’s forced to cross the electric fence line that kept her in the yard.

The woman claimed she was rescuing the dog. After seeing the surveillance video of the theft on TV., the woman got an attorney and agreed to turn the dog over to police.

But Tuesday she didn't show up at the Marysville Police Department. Instead, a man dropped off Takoda. The Smiths wanted answers.

Video at: http://www.seattledogspot.com/2011/10/05/video-stolen-marysville-dog-reunited-with-her-family/

"Who are you?" Ron Smith demanded. It turns out the man worked for the suspect's attorney.

The Smiths noticed right away Takoda was not herself. She was shy, shaking, and had cuts and bumps on her face.

Maybe their heart was in the right place, but they went about it the wrong way. And there are going to be repercussions," said Commander Rob Lamoureux.

Source:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44773914/ns/local_news-seattle_wa/t/stolen-marysville-dog-returned-family/#
Also see:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20111004/NEWS01/710049849#Stolen-dog-reunited-with-Marysville-family

Molly, Cavalier King Charles

Stolen Tenby dog Molly found in Doncaster 16 months on
4 October 2011

Andrea Richards said she was delighted to be reunited with her Cavalier King Charles spaniel Molly

Happy reunion: Andrea Richards with Molly, her King Charles spaniel, after they were reunited

A family in Pembrokeshire has been reunited with their dog 16 months after she was stolen - thanks to a microchip.

Cavalier King Charles spaniel Molly is back at home with Tom and Andrea Richards in Tenby.

She was snatched from the seaside resort and sold to unsuspecting new owners 300 miles away in Doncaster.

But when Molly was taken to a vet after swallowing a conker she was routinely scanned and the microchip listed her as stolen.

Facebook group

Fortunately Molly had been microchipped and when the vets scanned the chip it told them Molly was stolen”

Molly was then returned to Tenby within days.

Mrs Richards, 54, said: "It was amazing to have her back - and all because of a conker.

"We had offered a £1,000 reward, started a Facebook group and put out appeals on the local radio.

"But as each day went passed we thought the chances of finding her grew slimmer."

Molly was a 10-month-old puppy when she went missing in May 2010 after running out of the house and into a nearby car park.

Mrs Richards added: "I ran out after her and asked the car park attendant had he seen my dog.

'Really upset'

She's an absolutely beautiful dog and we're very grateful to have her back”

"He told me she'd got into a car with some people from up north who had told him they were taking Molly to the vets.

"That was the last time we saw her."

Molly's whereabouts over the following 12 months are a mystery but she was bought by a family in Doncaster in April this year.

She would have remained there if she had not eaten the conker.

"Fortunately Molly had been microchipped and when the vets scanned the chip it told them Molly was stolen."

Tom Richards added: "We were over the moon when we had a call to say Molly had been found.

"The family who had her were really upset, the children and grandchildren were crying.

"They bought her in good faith but they are now going through what we went through last year.

"She's an absolutely beautiful dog and we're very grateful to have her back."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-15166970
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Zeba, Staffordshire bull terrier

The Blue Cross reunites injured dog with owner thanks to a microchip
09 Sep 2011

A dog who survived serious injuries after being hit by a car has been reunited with her distraught owner thanks to a microchip.

Staffordshire bull terrier Zena was found wandering around a London park with extensive wounds to her body.

She had been in a road accident and her injuries suggested that she may have been dragged along the tar.

Zena was in severe shock and pain when the police brought her to The Blue Cross Hammersmith animal hospital.

We placed her on a drip, gave her IV antibiotics and pain relief. Later that day she was transferred to our Victoria hospital where staff gave her an X-ray to check for internal injuries and flushed and dressed her wounds.

Luckily for Zena she was microchipped and we were able to contact her owner Zoe Kealy immediately, who was beside herself with worry.

She says: “Zena had run off which was most unlike her. She was only missing for six hours but it was horrific. I’d rung everyone I could think of to report her missing and had already put up posters. We were beside ourselves.”

When Zoe got the call from The Blue Cross to say we had Zena she was overjoyed to be reunited with her dog.

She says: “It was touch and go for a while because her wounds were still open but The Blue Cross has worked miracles on her.

“We know that if she hadn’t been microchipped we might never have seen her again. It’s absolutely vital to make sure that your pet is microchipped.”

Zena needed to stay at The Blue Cross for more than a week while she recovered but is now back at home and visiting the hospital for check ups.

Zoe says: “It’s so lovely to have her home – we absolutely adore her.”

Source: http://www.bluecross.org.uk/478-90806/the-blue-cross-reunites-injured-dog-with-owner-thanks-to-a-microchip-.html

Lexus, Pitbull

Missing Gloucester dog reunited with family
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

GLOUCESTER, Mass. -- A family has been reunited with its dog, months after it had been stolen.

That family had just started looking for a new dog when they came across an advertisement online describing a dog that sounded just like their missing one.

The pitbull mix had been stolen in July of last year from Christine Amaro’s home.

“So much anxiety kicking in and I was like oh I wonder if she is going to remember me,” Christine said.

She had posted flyers and checked local shelters with no luck.

“When you lose your dog, your wits leave you. You just become overwhelmed,” Mary Lou Maraganis of All Dog Rescue said.

This March Lexus was dropped off at All Dogs Rescue in Gloucester, where they had a hard time adopting the 9-year-old dog, which turned out to be good news for Amaro.

“We hadn’t had an adopter the whole time I had her since March,” Mary Lou added.

Meanwhile, Amaro had been online searching shelters when she spotted a familiar face.

“I’m just really overwhelmed with everything, I just can’t wait to hurry up and get her home so the rest of the kids can see her,” Christine said.



It could have happened months ago but Lexus did not have a microchip, she does now.


Source: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/north/12005529401655/missing-gloucester-dog-reunited-with-family/