Alfaba, Welsh terrier

Soldier reunited with dog, missing for 18 months
May 21, 2013

ATLANTA -- Brandon Patterson was serving in Iraq, when he got the heartbreaking call. It appeared his dog Alfaba had found a gap in the sitter's fence and wandered away.

Helpless to do anything from so far away, Patterson asked his friends to post flyers and ads on Facebook, but Alfaba had disappeared.

"It's been very difficult just for closure. Just not knowing where she was at, if she was still alive?" said Patterson.

Patterson says he never stopped looking for Alfaba, keeping an eye out every time he saw another dog, and he certainly couldn't bring himself to adopt another.

"I think that I wanted to wait until I kind of have a peace about this and I never really did," he said.

Now he knows why. Cobb County Animal Control says Alfaba was one of nearly 40 dogs pulled from the house of an elderly woman, who also had dozens of cats and birds, all stuffed in cages inside her tiny house.

"Her back is black fur, but it was just dense with dirt and grime. You could tell she hadn't been brushed in a very very long time," said Judy Price, a volunteer with Atlanta Pet Rescue & Adoption.

Price was one of the first rescue volunteers called to the house to help.  The shelter couldn't take them all, but wanted to find as many good homes as possible.

"The wire cages (were) stacked double high, very dimly lit.  The shades were pulled down so no one could see in.  Cats (were) perched on any surface imaginable.  The smell of old urine was almost caustic," Price said, describing the conditions inside the house.

Price took three of the dogs and called Erika Dillingham for help in finding the right place for Alfaba, since she had experience with his breed, a Welsh Terrier.

Dillingham volunteers with Society of Humane Friends of Georgia and American Fox Terrier Rescue.

Dillingham says she could feel Alfaba's microchip in her shoulder, even though a vet checking the dog out, said she didn't have one.

The next day she went to another vet to have it checked out.  Unfortunately, the information didn't lead her directly to Patterson so she tried to track down the chip's maker and where it was purchased.

"It took a lot of internet searching and a lot of phone calling," she said.  Even when she did get a number for Patterson, it was disconnected.

Finally, the company where the chip had been purchased called back with another number.  It was just the number she needed to reunite Patterson with Alfaba.  It came just in time, because plans were already in the works to send Alfaba to a home in Montana.

"She started bouncing in the air and her tail was going a million miles a minute," said Dillingham.

Patterson says Alfaba is already up to her old tricks.

"Whenever I got out of the shower she would always lick my legs.  She continues to do that," he said with a smile.



Dillingham says the story is a great reminder to all pet owners to update the information associated with their pet's microchip.  She also encourages pet owners to register their animals with several services, and use several numbers for good samaritans trying to reach you!

Source: http://www.11alive.com/news/article/293593/40/Soldier-reunited-with-dog-missing-for-18-months

Hershey, beagle mix

Family is Reunited With Missing Dog After He Is Rescued From an Animal Hoarder
LifeWithDogs TV
March 8, 2013

Out of a terrible case of animal cruelty there is a story with a happy ending.

When dozens of animals were seized from a farm run by Cheryll Jeffers the news helped reunite one dog with his family.

Cheryll Jeffers, who also goes by the name Cheryll Ford, has been charged with animal cruelty after the animal hoarder’s farm in Kentucky was investigated. Dozens of animals were found dead at the farm. Fourteen surviving dogs were signed over to the Woodford Humane Society.

One of those dogs was a beagle mix named Hershey.

When Hershey’s family saw the news story on Jeffers, they recognized the woman and immediately called the humane society hoping they would find their lost dog.

Hershey’s family had looked into finding a pet-sitter to watch Hershey while they moved when they met Jeffers. She told the family she was a pet sitter and rescuer and they entrusted her with his care. The animal hoarder then skipped town with Hershey and his family never saw him again, unable to track Jeffers down.

The phone call to the humane society brought good news to the family when it was discovered Hershey was in fact one of the rescued dogs.

He was thin, but alive. On Thursday Hershey finally got to go home with his family.

“They were ecstatic, we were ecstatic, there were some tears flowing,” said Amy Thomas from the Woodford Humane Society.

“It’s really honestly one of the happiest ending that could come from a situation as horrific as this.”



Source: http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2013/03/family-is-reunited-with-missing-dog-after-he-is-rescued-from-an-animal-hoarder/

Diebo, Boston terrier

Dog wearing chip is back on old block in Lake Worth
By Janis Fontaine Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 20, 2012

For Diebo, nothing was more fun that slipping out an open door. The little Boston terrier would look over his shoulder at Lizzette Cabrera, lips curled into a smile that practically said: "Betcha can't catch me!"

Lizzette Cabrera's 7-year-old Boston terrier Diebo disappeared from her home 6 years ago, but thanks to the dog's microchip he was discovered at the home of an animal hoarder and returned to her. 

But the fun and games ended when Diebo disappeared from his Lake Worth yard six years ago after scooting out an open door.

Cabrera and her three daughters were heartbroken. They searched and put up fliers and searched some more. They cried. They prayed. They checked shelters. Weeks went by, then years, and still, no Diebo.

Then, a few weeks ago, Cabrera's phone rang. She didn't recognize the number so she let it go to voice mail. It was Sgt. Michele Fox from Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control.

"She said, 'We think we have your dog, Diebo.' We were all crying," Cabrera said. "My daughter thought I was playing a joke on her."

As soon as Cabrera saw Diebo's two tiny bottom teeth, she was certain he was her dog, but it took Diebo a few minutes to recognize Cabrera. After all, it had been more than 40 years in dog years since he'd seen her.

When he remembered, the little terrier slammed into her, knocking her to the ground where he covered her face with tiny kisses.

Diebo had been rescued by PBCACC in mid-March from a woman officials are calling an animal hoarder. The 67-year-old woman had eight dogs living in a garbage-filled house on Plumosa Street in West Palm Beach.

Dianne Sauve, the director of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, says the animals were kept tied up day and night on short leashes, but had been well-fed.

Diebo, now 7, seems relatively unfazed by his six-year absence. No one knows how long he'd been at that house, or where else he might have been.

But Diebo could have been euthanized if he hadn't had a microchip - a tiny transmitter implanted under the skin of dogs and cats which, when scanned, links that animal to a human.

About the size of a large grain of rice, microchips are "the absolute ticket home" for a lost dog or cat, Sauve said. "Tags and collars can fall off. A microchip is permanently embedded, and shelters are required to scan animals that come in for a microchip before they do anything else."

But a microchip is only as good as the information the pet guardian provides, and Cabrera is one of those efficient people who is good at keeping up with paperwork. When she filled out the microchipping forms six years ago, she included five phone numbers; every phone number she had.

By the time Diebo was found, Cabrera and her family had moved from Lake Worth to Orlando and back to West Palm Beach. She and her husband had divorced. She had a new job in accounts payable at a not-for-profit mental health clinic. So much had changed, but one thing remained the same: Cabrera's cellphone number.

It took persistence on the part of Fox to keep dialing all those numbers, but it's just as rewarding to reunite a dog and owner as it is to be reunited. Only about a third of the dogs that come in to ACC are reunited with their owners, Sauve said. For cats, it's even fewer.

Animal Care and Control does keep its own microchip database, and no animal leaves ACC without a microchip, but only for the purpose of bringing pet and parent back together.

"The microchip is absolutely the best thing," Sauve said. "I wouldn't have a pet without one."

Cabrera's story had a happy if delayed ending.

Cabrera says, "I would like to remind everyone who owns and loves their pet about the importance of microchipping and keeping the phone numbers and home address accurate and up to date. Had I not kept the same phone number, they would have never found me."

Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/dog-wearing-chip-is-back-on-old-block-2316901.html
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Omie, a shepherd/heeler mix

Couple reunited with missing dog found at infested house
Chris Casey
Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Theresa Honesto started dabbing at the corners of her eyes the moment she walked into the Humane Society of Weld County. She was about to be reunited with a family member. A little furry one. He'd gone missing 41⁄2 months ago. Theresa couldn't imagine that this day, her 27th birthday, could feel any better.

“It's the best birthday present ever,” she said, getting covered in hair from the squirming bundle of glee in her lap.

Theresa Honesto hugs Omie, the family pet, after being reunited with him Tuesday afternoon at the Humane Society of Weld County. Omie, who had been missing for 41⁄2 months, was one of 102 animals seized from a Greeley house on Friday.

The deluxe present was the Lazarus-like return of Omie, a 3-year-old American shepherd-blue heeler mix. Just days ago, Omie was rescued from an animal hellhole.

On Tuesday afternoon, the mostly brown dog bounded and slurped all over his owners, Theresa and Carlos Honesto, in the lobby of the humane society in Evans. It was as joyful a reunion as you'll ever see.

Elaine Hicks, executive director of the shelter, said Omie was the most traumatized of the 10 dogs found at the Greeley home at 403 26th Ave. Court. That was the feces-filled house in which animal control officers on Friday seized 102 animals, including cats, rabbits, rats and guinea pigs.

At the bungalow, the yard is overgrown with weeds and the windows are shuttered. The place smells from the sidewalk. It doesn't take much to imagine the grim interior. Those who've been inside describe a horrific scene: cats, many feral, lined up against the wall, the living room a giant litter box, the kitchen converted into a dog run of sorts. It's where Omie spent much of the last four months, becoming progressively more fearful.

Hicks smiled. “A much different effect,” she said, watching Omie instantly shed his fearfulness.

Theresa and Carlos Honesto, who live just nine blocks west of the animal “hoarders,” checked the humane society after a friend of Theresa's on Monday told her about Friday's seizure. Sure enough, Omie, who wasn't wearing a tag, was there.

“I saw him yesterday and my heart just broke,” Theresa said. “He was at the back of the kennel.”

The couple have a 7-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter who can't wait to see Omie again. Their son named him after a TV cartoon character he likes. Omie ran off a few months ago when the garage door was accidentally left open. Carlos immediately searched for him, but to no avail. A couple of days later, Theresa checked the humane society, but nobody had turned him in.

For weeks, they posted missing-dog signs around the neighborhood. Finally, they gave up.

“I figured he got picked up by someone else who was taking care of him,” Carlos said. “Apparently, that was not the case.”

The hoarders — who remain under investigation — apparently gave Omie sufficient food. But Hicks knows traumatized animals when she sees them.

“He'll be all right,” Carlos said, as he petted Omie, who came to them as a puppy from friends. “We'll take him home and give him a big steak. … We're going to give him a bath. You can smell it.”

During the past few months, the Honestos frequently found themselves talking and thinking about Omie, wondering what had happened to their spirited and friendly pet. They kept a picture of him.

“We thought about getting another one for the longest time, but it didn't feel right,” Carlos said. “It's one thing to have an animal die of natural causes, but to lose something, to lose him ... .” his voice trailed off as he shook his head.

Besides the live animals, 28 dead cats were found in the house.

Theresa said she was “disgusted, so disgusted” to learn of the animal-infested house. “I just couldn't imagine who would do that.”

Carlos said he will take pains not to look at the property, which sits directly on the way to a relative's house.

“I've got a couple words I'd like to tell 'em,” he said.

Hicks said most of the animals taken from the house — all went to the humane society, except the rats and guinea pigs, which went to a Greeley animal hospital — were in decent health. About 20 of the 57 cats were feral, however. All of the animals are being temperament tested and will be put up for adoption. The only hope for the feral cats is if somebody is looking for farm or ranch cats.

Only one kitten was found in the house. Hicks suspects kittens were eaten by the other animals “because you don't have that many cats and not have kittens.”

Carlos didn't share the choice words he has for the hoarders. But he did have a thought on what should happen to Omie's “caretakers.”

“Fifteen minutes with a dog — a rabid dog,” he said.

Source:
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090805/NEWS/908049972/1026/NONE&parentprofile=1025