Jewel, stolen dog

Man reunited with dog, 2 cats missing after Mishawaka burglary
By James Fillmore, WSBT-TV reporter
April 4, 2013

A couple in Mishawaka had their home burglarized Wednesday morning while they were away. A TV and computer were some of the items taken but the most valuable things missing were irreplaceable – the family pets: a dog and two cats.

Video Available

Yesterday, with the help of some nice workers at a nearby business, they got their dog back. Later one of their cats was found. And this morning the cat that remained missing came back home.

It was a long, emotional day for Junior Downer and his fiance Heather. Their home was in disarray from the burglary but all the two cared about was getting their beloved pets back.

As you walked through Junior Downer's home inside the Village Green Mobile Home Park in Mishawaka, you could tell it had been ransacked – The TV ripped from the wall, drawers pulled from out of the dresser and personal items covering the floor.

His dog Jewel along with two cats named Tex and Zoey were nowhere in sight.

Downer called Mishawaka police and filed a report.

“It was pretty heart-wrenching trying to tell the cop that, you know, my animals were gone,” he said. Especially my dog, she means a lot to me."

Little did Downer know that his dog was less than a quarter of a mile away.

Jewel had been running around 12th street when people working at Steamatic spotted her and took the dog inside.

"We've got a lot of dog lovers here in the office,” said Cindy Butt, an officer manager at the company.  “We all have animals of our own so we wouldn't want them out there."

Employees then logged on to Facebook and posted a picture of Jewel on WSBT's page in hopes of reuniting the lost dog with its owner."

 WSBT called Downer to see if the picture on our Facebook page was his dog and he confirmed it was Jewel.

Jewel and Downer were reunited Wednesday afternoon at Steamatic.

"Yeah, it stinks that my house was broken into, stuff was stolen, but as long as I've got my family – and she's a part of the family – that's what's most important," Downer says.

The office manager of Steamatic says Jewel was terrified and shivering from the cold when they found her. She did not appear to have any injuries.

Downer later his cat Tex, and around 2 a.m. Zoey came wandering back home.

Source: http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/wsbt-man-reunited-with-dog-cat-after-mishawaka-burglary-other-cat-still-missing-20130404,0,4380404.story?track=rss

Oban, whippet/shepherd mix

Dogged Pursuits: Tails from a Dog Rescuer
By Jim Branson for Seattle DogSpot
April 2, 2013

Dogged Pursuits is a new feature on Seattle DogSpot. Each week, Jim Branson from Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue will write a post about a search he conducted for a lost pet in the Puget Sound region with his dogs Kelsy, Porter, and Komu.

Oban before he went missing

I hope Jim's stories not only entertain you but also provide insight into the most effective ways for searching for/finding a lost pet.


Jim's first post is about the search for Oban, a dog he found over the weekend. Oban was lost for almost 2 months after escaping from a parked car in Bellevue on February 2.

We're excited about this new feature - please let us know of you like it.

Oban, a whippet-shepherd mix, went missing on February 2nd. He was playing, "You can't catch me," with his owner when he was struck by a car and ran off into the fog. Sporadic reports of Oban came in over the next two months.

When reports came in that he was seen very close to the accident site, I set up an "Intersection Alert" where several volunteers held up large neon posters about Oban's plight.

We received at least eight tips that afternoon. He had been seen ten blocks away, but he was seen most recently very near the intersection - 150th Ave SE and SE 37th Street - where the volunteers were standing.

Just before dark, someone pulled over and said they had just seen him on the off ramp from eastbound I-90 to 150th Ave SE. We went to check it out, but Oban slipped back into the woods before we could spot him.

A narrow strip of trees and brush grows between the off ramp and a tall retaining wall. Oban couldn't go south from there, and going east, west, or north would just put him on the freeway. I set up a humane trap in the woods at the end of the off ramp, but Oban didn't go in it the first day.

Many volunteers checked the trap every few hours, just in case any animal was trapped.

The next day, I moved the trap to a quieter area and someone put a couple of articles of clothing (belonging to Oban's owner, who was out of town) into the trap. They placed his favorite bed beside the trap.

As I was looking around the area to see how he might be getting around, I received a call that he had just been seen again poking his head out of the woods beside the off ramp. Knowing exactly where he was at that moment, I called for volunteers to help me keep an eye on the area and make sure he didn't leave.

We often use a "Magnet Dog" to lure a skittish dog to safety. My little dog, Fozzie, works sometimes. In this case, because Oban was so skittish and traumatized from the accident, I contacted his owner and learned of a dog named Sonia that Oban likes.

Kendra brought Sonia to the off ramp for the luring attempt. I told Kendra not to make eye contact with Oban or call his name, to focus her attention on Sonia and ignore Oban while giving Sonia treats. I also told Kendra that it would be better to not catch Oban today than to lunge for him and risk scaring him away to a new location.

Kendra walked Sonia down the shoulder of the road as cars whizzed by at 60 MPH. Kendra and Sonia made one pass back and forth along the strip of woods, one thousand feet down and one thousand feet back.

Nothing.

Kendra took Sonia for a second pass, and Oban popped out of the woods to see his friend and get some treats. He allowed Kendra to snap a leash on his collar with no trouble. Kendra rushed him to the nearby emergency vet, where Oban is staying overnight. He was very thin.

Oban when he was found after 2 months

When I called Oban's owner to tell her he was safe she screamed into the phone.

He needs more evaluation, but at this point it appears he will make a full recovery after being lost for two months. Many volunteers helped bring Oban to safety, including Irene, Krystina, Jacintha, Dina, Dori, Shawna, Julie, Lara, Sheri, Sam, Ilse, Kendra, Stephan, and Sonia the Vizsla.

Jim Branson is a certified Missing Animal Response Technician with four years of experience finding lost cats and dogs for Missing Pet Partnership.

Source: http://www.seattledogspot.com/blog/dog-blog/post/dogged-pursuits

Bear, yellow lab

CBS13 Viewer Helps Folsom Family Locate Dog
March 20, 2013

FOLSOM (CBS13) – A woman’s luxury SUV was stolen, but it’s what was inside the vehicle that had her worried.

Sarah Kensky says her family hadn’t had Bear for long. The 110-pound yellow lab was just rescued from a shelter three months ago, but quickly became a part of the family.

“We just lost a dog last year and I can’t imagine losing another one,” said Sarah.

Bear was last seen Tuesday afternoon in the family car parked in front of the Folsom Whole Foods. Katie Kensky had just returned from a short vacation and decided to do a little grocery shopping.

“I missed him so much I brought him with me to the supermarket,” she said.

But when she returned from shopping, her car was missing and so was her dog.

“We don’t care about the car or the people who took the car,” said Sarah. “Whoever has him, we just want him back.”



Source: http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/03/20/folsom-family-pleading-for-return-of-dog-taken-with-stolen-car/

Buck, black lab

VB family finds missing dog
by Brian Farrell, WVEC.com
Posted on March 22, 2013

VIRGINIA BEACH -- A family finds their missing dog after someone spotted the pet at a nearby business.

Sean Palmer, his wife, Chris, their children, and pets moved to their home on South Plaza Trail from Kansas earlier this month. A week later, their 7-month-old Black Labrador Retriever, Buck, was gone.

"It's taken me many and many a dog to find the dog I truly bonded with that's gonna be good with my family, that I could take out in the woods and just like that, he comes running back to me," said Sean Palmer. "I love that dog."

Chris Palmer let Buck and their other dog, Lily, out in the family's backyard March 15. When she heard Lily at the door, looking to come back in, she opened it. There was no sign of Buck. He got out of the yard.

A couple days later, the mailman told her the dog had been across the road in the parking lot of Advance Auto Parts. He added someone in a blue Ford Super Duty truck with a double set of back wheels was petting Buck. The Palmers believe the driver of the truck took the dog.

"It's one thing, I guess, if you lose a dog, but then to find out someone witnessed him being taken is a completely other thing. It's indescribable," Chris Palmer told 13News. "You know, it's someone's dog. He has a collar, and we were told, I guess, there's a 48-hour rule that if you pick up a dog, you have 48 hours to notify the proper authorities."

"I can't really say that, you know, if I'd have found the dog, that I'd have went knocking on every single door, but I would have made some type of effort to say outreach to somebody and say, 'Hey, is this your dog?'" stated Sean Palmer. "Like I said, I ain't never loved a dog before, never."

The Palmers have looked around their area for Buck and kept in regular contact with animal shelters.


Buck was eventually located after someone recognized the dog at a local Uhaul dealership.

Source: http://www.wvec.com/video/featured-videos/Family-desperate-to-find-missing-dog-199640111.html