Lost dog finds way back home
By Donathan Prater
Published: August 31, 2010
He came home a few pounds lighter and a shade darker.
Fortunately, those are two things a bowl of dog food and a good bath could fix for Nicky, a four-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, that had been missing for nearly six weeks since being lost from an Auburn animal hospital in July.
Shortly after going missing, Nicky’s owner, Christy Hines, 33, offered a $500 reward for his safe return home.
It turns out that all that while, Nicky didn’t actually find his way home; he did the next best thing by showing up at Hines’ mother Charlene Hines’ home at approximately 7 a.m. Thursday.
“As my mother pulled into her driveway, he came up the car, she opened the door and Nicky jumped in the car,” Christy said.
The time between the call from her mother that Nicky was OK and when she drove over to her mother’s home to get him was an emotionally tense one for Christy.
“When I saw him for the first time, I just started crying tears of joy and relief at seeing him,” Christy Hines said. “I pulled him into my lap, held him for a while and gave him a hug and kiss on his nose.”
With the recent string of hot days and being alone, Hines at times feared the worse for Nicky.
“I was afraid that he had not been able to survive, but he’s obviously much tougher than I gave him credit for,” Hines said.
Later that same morning, Hines took Nicky to the veterinarian where other than being treated for a few bug bites and given an IV for dehydration, he was given a clean bill of health and a much needed bath.
Over the last few days Nicky has been getting reacquainted with his favorite toy, a stuffed owl and catching up on his sleep, which he enjoys doing at Hines’ feet.
“The (Nicky) stuffed owl is his favorite toy, but he pretty much likes anything that squeaks,” said Hines, who continues to be grateful for all those who spent time looking for him and kept him in their prayers.
Comment Posted by chines on Sept. 1, 2010 - 8:36 a.m.
I would like to thank everyone who spent their time looking for Nicky, posting flyers, and keeping him in your prayers and thoughts. I was overwhelmed at the generosity of people who were strangers, but were offering help and support. That meant more to me and my family than you could ever imagine. I have lived here for 3 years, but I truly understood the meaning of Auburn family over these past weeks. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!
Source: http://www2.oanow.com/news/2010/aug/31/lost-dog-finds-way-back-home-ar-774234/
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Bella, samoyed husky
Dognapped Bella is back -- thanks to Herald reader
By Caitlin McBride
Wednesday July 29 2009
The owner of a missing dog has been reunited with her beloved pet after a tip-off from a Herald reader.
Joelle Fagan's white samoyed husky, Bella, had been missing for two weeks after she was snatched from the family's driveway in Raheny.
And to add to Joelle's worries, she also received a number of hoax phone calls about Bella's whereabouts, as well as a ransom demand.
However, that has all been put aside following Bella's safe return home.
The Fagan family were left heartbroken after their dog disappeared and their distress was deepened after they received a ransom call last week.
"Somebody called saying they had our dog and had been offered €300 for it -- they wanted to know what we were willing to pay," said Ms Fagan.
However, when the family alerted gardai, they were able to trace the call and track down the culprits who admitted to knowing nothing about the missing dog.
Prior to Bella's recovery, the dog's owners had followed every tip and potential sighting which ranged from the Dublin suburbs to Kildare.
But yesterday morning, the Fagan family went from distressed to delighted when they received a call from a Kildare resident who had taken in a dog and realised it was Bella after reading about her 'dog-napping' in the Herald.
ABANDONED
"I am delighted that it is our dog and she was taken in by a very kind lady beside the Curragh in Kildare," said Joelle.
And although Bella is not up to her normal strength, she is in good health.
Joelle explained: "A woman found her on her doorstep in the rain after she had been abandoned by the kidnappers. Her hair is matted and she's a little thin, but other than that she is fine.
"It is fantastic to have her back. I can't thank everyone enough for their help -- so many people supported us when she was missing.
"I really couldn't have done it without the support of the Herald and all the volunteers in the DSPCA and Animal Rescue Dublin."
There has been a worrying increase in the number of dog-related crimes in recent months. Pet detective Robert Kenny believes they have "increased by 15pc over six to seven months because of the recession".
Source: http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/dognapped-bella-is-back--thanks-to-herald-reader-1845163.html
Printer-friendly version here
By Caitlin McBride
Wednesday July 29 2009
The owner of a missing dog has been reunited with her beloved pet after a tip-off from a Herald reader.
 |
| Joelle Fagan has been reunited with her dog Bella who went missing two weeks ago. |
And to add to Joelle's worries, she also received a number of hoax phone calls about Bella's whereabouts, as well as a ransom demand.
However, that has all been put aside following Bella's safe return home.
The Fagan family were left heartbroken after their dog disappeared and their distress was deepened after they received a ransom call last week.
"Somebody called saying they had our dog and had been offered €300 for it -- they wanted to know what we were willing to pay," said Ms Fagan.
However, when the family alerted gardai, they were able to trace the call and track down the culprits who admitted to knowing nothing about the missing dog.
Prior to Bella's recovery, the dog's owners had followed every tip and potential sighting which ranged from the Dublin suburbs to Kildare.
But yesterday morning, the Fagan family went from distressed to delighted when they received a call from a Kildare resident who had taken in a dog and realised it was Bella after reading about her 'dog-napping' in the Herald.
ABANDONED
"I am delighted that it is our dog and she was taken in by a very kind lady beside the Curragh in Kildare," said Joelle.
And although Bella is not up to her normal strength, she is in good health.
Joelle explained: "A woman found her on her doorstep in the rain after she had been abandoned by the kidnappers. Her hair is matted and she's a little thin, but other than that she is fine.
"It is fantastic to have her back. I can't thank everyone enough for their help -- so many people supported us when she was missing.
"I really couldn't have done it without the support of the Herald and all the volunteers in the DSPCA and Animal Rescue Dublin."
There has been a worrying increase in the number of dog-related crimes in recent months. Pet detective Robert Kenny believes they have "increased by 15pc over six to seven months because of the recession".
Source: http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/dognapped-bella-is-back--thanks-to-herald-reader-1845163.html
Printer-friendly version here
Friday, September 3, 2010
Whitney, muttley mix
Whitney's Story: Part 2
by Meghan Reed
Thursday, September 2, 2010
On June 12th, a lovely Saturday morning, we were heading out the door to go to the farmer's market. My mom was in town visiting and she loves to go our farmer's market. We decided that we would take Whitney along because it would be good for her social skills development.
Matt had Whitney on her leash and was heading down to the car when her leash got tangled up and he tripped and dropped the leash. Little miss Whitney was startled and took off running. Matt chased her for a little while but she was just too fast. We wandered around the neighborhood all morning trying find her with no luck. Eventually we gave up and decided we would just have to wait for her to come home on her own. It seemed like the longest day ever.
Finally, around 9:30pm we were watching a movie and I heard a jingle on the front porch. It was Whitney, she came back but when we opened the front door to get her she took off running again. This was the last time we saw her.
I was determined to find poor little Whitney and bring her home. I put hundreds of fliers all over our neighborhood, on everyone's cars and all of the utility poles. I posted her on craigslist in the pets and the lost and found sections. I even paid to have a pet amber alert sent. This service sent a notice to all of the local vets, animal shelters, animal control, law enforcement, and Pet Stores within a 50 mile radius.
I continued to hang fliers an check craigslist for weeks with no luck. Eventually I stopped wandering all over the place looking for her, I just didn't have the time. I did however continue to post her on craigslist in both the pets and lost and found sections once a week. This went on for two months.
On August 8th, while I was making dinner, my phone rang, it was an unknown number and Matt answered. It was the daughter of a woman who had just moved into a new townhouse. She said her mom had been telling her about this little dog that comes out of the woods every evening around 6pm and scrounges around the nearby construction site. So the daughter went on craigslist to see if she could find anything about a lost dog. She found our ad and showed the picture to her mom who said it did look like the dog she sees every night; it just looked a little smaller in real life.
She gave us the address, it was only about 2 miles from our house, so we dropped everything to go check it out. We wandered into the construction site and looked around a bit, and then I saw something in the dirt. It was Whitney's collar, I called her name and sure enough she popped up out of some bushes and took off running. We weren't able to catch her that night, but I kept going back every night, still unable to catch her. At least I was able to see that she was okay and leave her some food. I also found out that some of the construction workers had been feeding her for weeks, so she had been living there for a while.
I tried everything I could think of to catch her. I set her crate up with a Wendy's cheeseburger in it; we tried a Havaheart trap, and even brought Arnie over to see if he could get her to come to us. After a week of spending my evenings at a dirty construction site, I was running out of ideas, so I turned to craigslist for help. I posted on there that we had found her but were unable to catch her and I got several responses recommending a pet trapper.
On August 12th, exactly 2 months after she ran away, I contacted Pure Gold Pet Trackers. They have this really snazzy trap that doesn't look like a trap. You can see how it works below.
We set the trap up that night around 9:30pm with a rotisserie chicken in it then we sat in the car and waited. We had night vision goggles so we could see what Whitney was up to in the dark. She wandered around for a while, kept sniffing around the corner where the chicken was. She wasn't too sure about the fence and the entrance to the trap, but she really wanted that chicken. At about 11:30pm she went for it and the door shut behind her. We caught her! I got her in the car and let her finish the chicken while we packed up the trap.
I took her home and cleaned her up bit, gave her some treats and put her to bed in her crate. The next day she got a real bath and went to the vet. She was given a clean bill of health except for a few ticks.
Today, she is fully recovered and starting to act more and more like a normal dog every day.
We would like to thank Sam, Nancy, and Nadene for all of their help with bringing Whitney home.
Source (& many more pics): http://www.thekraftywife.com/2010/09/whitneys-story-part-2.html
Whitney's background story is at http://www.thekraftywife.com/2010/08/whitneys-story-part-1.html
by Meghan Reed
Thursday, September 2, 2010
On June 12th, a lovely Saturday morning, we were heading out the door to go to the farmer's market. My mom was in town visiting and she loves to go our farmer's market. We decided that we would take Whitney along because it would be good for her social skills development.
 |
| Whitney |
Matt had Whitney on her leash and was heading down to the car when her leash got tangled up and he tripped and dropped the leash. Little miss Whitney was startled and took off running. Matt chased her for a little while but she was just too fast. We wandered around the neighborhood all morning trying find her with no luck. Eventually we gave up and decided we would just have to wait for her to come home on her own. It seemed like the longest day ever.
Finally, around 9:30pm we were watching a movie and I heard a jingle on the front porch. It was Whitney, she came back but when we opened the front door to get her she took off running again. This was the last time we saw her.
I was determined to find poor little Whitney and bring her home. I put hundreds of fliers all over our neighborhood, on everyone's cars and all of the utility poles. I posted her on craigslist in the pets and the lost and found sections. I even paid to have a pet amber alert sent. This service sent a notice to all of the local vets, animal shelters, animal control, law enforcement, and Pet Stores within a 50 mile radius.
I continued to hang fliers an check craigslist for weeks with no luck. Eventually I stopped wandering all over the place looking for her, I just didn't have the time. I did however continue to post her on craigslist in both the pets and lost and found sections once a week. This went on for two months.
On August 8th, while I was making dinner, my phone rang, it was an unknown number and Matt answered. It was the daughter of a woman who had just moved into a new townhouse. She said her mom had been telling her about this little dog that comes out of the woods every evening around 6pm and scrounges around the nearby construction site. So the daughter went on craigslist to see if she could find anything about a lost dog. She found our ad and showed the picture to her mom who said it did look like the dog she sees every night; it just looked a little smaller in real life.
She gave us the address, it was only about 2 miles from our house, so we dropped everything to go check it out. We wandered into the construction site and looked around a bit, and then I saw something in the dirt. It was Whitney's collar, I called her name and sure enough she popped up out of some bushes and took off running. We weren't able to catch her that night, but I kept going back every night, still unable to catch her. At least I was able to see that she was okay and leave her some food. I also found out that some of the construction workers had been feeding her for weeks, so she had been living there for a while.
I tried everything I could think of to catch her. I set her crate up with a Wendy's cheeseburger in it; we tried a Havaheart trap, and even brought Arnie over to see if he could get her to come to us. After a week of spending my evenings at a dirty construction site, I was running out of ideas, so I turned to craigslist for help. I posted on there that we had found her but were unable to catch her and I got several responses recommending a pet trapper.
On August 12th, exactly 2 months after she ran away, I contacted Pure Gold Pet Trackers. They have this really snazzy trap that doesn't look like a trap. You can see how it works below.
We set the trap up that night around 9:30pm with a rotisserie chicken in it then we sat in the car and waited. We had night vision goggles so we could see what Whitney was up to in the dark. She wandered around for a while, kept sniffing around the corner where the chicken was. She wasn't too sure about the fence and the entrance to the trap, but she really wanted that chicken. At about 11:30pm she went for it and the door shut behind her. We caught her! I got her in the car and let her finish the chicken while we packed up the trap.
I took her home and cleaned her up bit, gave her some treats and put her to bed in her crate. The next day she got a real bath and went to the vet. She was given a clean bill of health except for a few ticks.
Today, she is fully recovered and starting to act more and more like a normal dog every day.
We would like to thank Sam, Nancy, and Nadene for all of their help with bringing Whitney home.
Source (& many more pics): http://www.thekraftywife.com/2010/09/whitneys-story-part-2.html
Whitney's background story is at http://www.thekraftywife.com/2010/08/whitneys-story-part-1.html
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Chihuahua Found After Being Lost in Florida Swampland for 19 Days
by Helena Sung
Oct 19th 2009 @ 3:00PM
To this day, Sheila Helton cannot talk about the time her Chihuahua, Rue, went missing without tearing up. "If we had listened to people who told us to give up, we would never have found Rue," Sheila tells Paw Nation. But find her she did, after 19 days in Florida's swampland.
When Sheila and her partner Sue set off with 12 family members on a nine day trip to Portugal in September 2007, it was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. With a pet sitter to watch their other two dogs, the women left eight-month-old Rue in the care of Sue's father.
The tiny Chihuahua rode with Sue's father and his wife to the airport in Fort Meyers, Florida to see Sheila and Sue off. Moments later, when Sue's father pulled over at a rest stop, Rue became so frightened by a bolt of lightning that she wriggled out of her harness and ran straight for a nearby massive stretch of swampland.
Sue's father, 75, and his wife looked for Rue, but there was no sight of her. At the advice of Sue's brother, her father kept mum until the women were back in the states. It was only at the end of their voyage that he revealed Rue had disappeared. "We were crying," recalls Sheila.
When they arrived home in Fort Meyers, the women went straight to the rest stop to look for Rue, who had already been missing for 9 days. They searched the mile of wetland and swamps for almost two hours, but their little dog didn't appear.
Every day after work, Sue and Sheila returned to the rest area. On weekends, they spent from morning to dusk looking for Rue, taking their other dogs along to spread their scent. "We yelled her name for hours and hours," says Sheila. They checked local shelters, put up fliers, offered a reward, and left their phone numbers with rest stop workers in case anybody found Rue.
There were tons of false sightings. "It was exhausting," recalls Sheila. "We'd drive an hour north to work, then come home and drive an hour south to the rest stop to look for Rue. It was an emotional roller coaster." It was also affecting their dogs. "They didn't know what was going on," Sheila tells Paw Nation. "Beau, our Jack Russel terrier, would walk all around the house looking for her."
Undaunted, Sheila and Sue went to a local animal shelter and borrowed a cat trap. Each night, they set the kennel-like structure with food and articles of their clothing. Once, they caught a racoon. Another time, a huge rat. But no Rue.
"We were starting to lose hope a little bit," says Sheila. "We couldn't lose our jobs and our other dogs weren't getting any attention."
Weeks after Rue's disappearance and with no recent sightings, the women made the difficult decision that, "as hard as it would be, we needed to start moving on," says Sheila. They set the trap one last time and put grilled chicken and wet dog food inside. Sheila took off her sweatshirt and placed it next to the food. "I was bawling," says Sheila. "It was horrible driving off thinking we were leaving her there."
"Do you have her?" Sheila yelled. He did. Rue had been found in the trap. Sue and Sheila sped to the rest area and there, Rue leapt into Sue's arms.
"We were crying, we were so grateful to have her back," says Sheila. Rue looked thin, had a big cut over her right eye, and her left eye was crusty and oozing, so Sue and Sheila sped directly to their veterinarian.
"The mosquitoes had pretty much chewed her up, but she looked pretty doggone good for being gone that long," veterinarian Terry Gardner tells Paw Nation. "I cleaned her up and gave her a steroid injection to reduce some inflammation and sent her home."
Curious about Rue's story, Dr. Gardner decided to stop by the rest area. "There was just a massive undeveloped wooded area," he says. In the pond where Rue had apparently drank from, Dr. Gardner saw alligators. "It turned out to have a happy ending, but it could have been disastrous," he says.
Today, Rue is playful as ever and rules the roost. "She still shakes whenever it rains and stiffens up when we put the harness on her, but other than that, she's the same as before," says Sheila. "I'm happy we didn't give up, and that's the message that I want people to know -- not to give up hope."
Source: http://www.pawnation.com/2009/10/19/chihuahua-found-after-being-lost-in-florida-swampland-for-19-day/
by Helena Sung
Oct 19th 2009 @ 3:00PM
Rue today
To this day, Sheila Helton cannot talk about the time her Chihuahua, Rue, went missing without tearing up. "If we had listened to people who told us to give up, we would never have found Rue," Sheila tells Paw Nation. But find her she did, after 19 days in Florida's swampland.
When Sheila and her partner Sue set off with 12 family members on a nine day trip to Portugal in September 2007, it was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. With a pet sitter to watch their other two dogs, the women left eight-month-old Rue in the care of Sue's father.
The tiny Chihuahua rode with Sue's father and his wife to the airport in Fort Meyers, Florida to see Sheila and Sue off. Moments later, when Sue's father pulled over at a rest stop, Rue became so frightened by a bolt of lightning that she wriggled out of her harness and ran straight for a nearby massive stretch of swampland.
Sue's father, 75, and his wife looked for Rue, but there was no sight of her. At the advice of Sue's brother, her father kept mum until the women were back in the states. It was only at the end of their voyage that he revealed Rue had disappeared. "We were crying," recalls Sheila.
When they arrived home in Fort Meyers, the women went straight to the rest stop to look for Rue, who had already been missing for 9 days. They searched the mile of wetland and swamps for almost two hours, but their little dog didn't appear.
Every day after work, Sue and Sheila returned to the rest area. On weekends, they spent from morning to dusk looking for Rue, taking their other dogs along to spread their scent. "We yelled her name for hours and hours," says Sheila. They checked local shelters, put up fliers, offered a reward, and left their phone numbers with rest stop workers in case anybody found Rue.
There were tons of false sightings. "It was exhausting," recalls Sheila. "We'd drive an hour north to work, then come home and drive an hour south to the rest stop to look for Rue. It was an emotional roller coaster." It was also affecting their dogs. "They didn't know what was going on," Sheila tells Paw Nation. "Beau, our Jack Russel terrier, would walk all around the house looking for her."
Undaunted, Sheila and Sue went to a local animal shelter and borrowed a cat trap. Each night, they set the kennel-like structure with food and articles of their clothing. Once, they caught a racoon. Another time, a huge rat. But no Rue.
"We were starting to lose hope a little bit," says Sheila. "We couldn't lose our jobs and our other dogs weren't getting any attention."
Weeks after Rue's disappearance and with no recent sightings, the women made the difficult decision that, "as hard as it would be, we needed to start moving on," says Sheila. They set the trap one last time and put grilled chicken and wet dog food inside. Sheila took off her sweatshirt and placed it next to the food. "I was bawling," says Sheila. "It was horrible driving off thinking we were leaving her there."
Rue today
Rue, soon after being found.
But the next morning at 6 a.m., Sheila received a stunning phone call. It was a construction worker from the rest stop. "Do you think you can get off work today?" he asked.
"Do you have her?" Sheila yelled. He did. Rue had been found in the trap. Sue and Sheila sped to the rest area and there, Rue leapt into Sue's arms.
"We were crying, we were so grateful to have her back," says Sheila. Rue looked thin, had a big cut over her right eye, and her left eye was crusty and oozing, so Sue and Sheila sped directly to their veterinarian.
"The mosquitoes had pretty much chewed her up, but she looked pretty doggone good for being gone that long," veterinarian Terry Gardner tells Paw Nation. "I cleaned her up and gave her a steroid injection to reduce some inflammation and sent her home."
Curious about Rue's story, Dr. Gardner decided to stop by the rest area. "There was just a massive undeveloped wooded area," he says. In the pond where Rue had apparently drank from, Dr. Gardner saw alligators. "It turned out to have a happy ending, but it could have been disastrous," he says.
Today, Rue is playful as ever and rules the roost. "She still shakes whenever it rains and stiffens up when we put the harness on her, but other than that, she's the same as before," says Sheila. "I'm happy we didn't give up, and that's the message that I want people to know -- not to give up hope."
Source: http://www.pawnation.com/2009/10/19/chihuahua-found-after-being-lost-in-florida-swampland-for-19-day/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
