Allie & 'Bama, basset hounds

Missing dogs reunited with owners after 5 years, long journey
Two dogs who went missing from their Tenn. home were found in Ga.

7/18/2012

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — This is one of those stories where you wish animals could talk.

If they could, a pair of basset hounds named Allie and 'Bama would probably have quite a story to tell — like where they've been the past half-decade.

Saturday they were reunited with owners Brenda Travis and her boyfriend, Tom Shields, five-and-a-half years after they were stolen from the couple's home in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

"We would look in neighborhoods and just drive around; we drove around for months, just looking," Travis told 11 Alive's sister station KSDK-TV.

Brenda and Tom had since moved to Wichita, Kan., and never expected to see the dogs again.

Then, a couple weeks ago, Brenda got a phone call from kennel technician Becky Davis of the Paulding County Animal Shelter.

Someone found Allie and 'Bama wandering around the parking lot of a Dallas, Ga. tractor supply store and took them to the shelter on July 5.

Shelter workers tried a microchip detector on the dogs. Davis tried three phone numbers that came up. The first two were no longer good, but the third put her in touch with Travis, who couldn't believe the message.

"I asked her, 'do you happen to have two basset hounds?'" Davis said.

"And I said, 'no ma'am, ours got stolen five-and-a-half years ago'," Travis replied.

"I said, 'well, we have them here at the pound'," Davis told her.

"There was a long pause and a lot of tears," Travis said.

"She said, 'oh, my gosh, you are kidding me'," Davis said.

"I said, 'no ma'am, they're here' and it brought tears to my eyes," Davis added.

"I asked her how they were and she said, 'they're healthy and fat'," Travis said.

"I said, 'they're in good condition' and she said, 'oh, my gosh'," David said.

Thanks to volunteers from Guardian Angel Basset Rescue, Allie and 'Bama were reunited with their owners near St. Louis last Saturday, hundreds of miles and several years after they last saw each other.

Rescue volunteer Don Hunt brought the dogs there for the handover.

Back at the Paulding County Animal Shelter, Davis was also celebrating.

"Oh, yeah, that makes it worth working here; I love it; I love animals," she said.


 

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/48225128/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/t/missing-dogs-reunited-owners-after-years-long-journey/

Tia, shepherd

An unbelievable reunion for lost service dog who was nearly killed in a shelter
By: Penny Eims
August 9, 2012

A service dog named Tia was nearly killed in a California animal control facility last week.

Her story is amazing, miraculous - almost unbelievable in fact. Readers of this column unwittingly followed portions of her story - as did I, the author of the stories.

Tia, before she went missing

Back to the beginning...

Eight months ago, Tia disappeared from her home in Prince Edward County, Va. The dog, who served as a service dog to her disabled veteran owner, Karren Cooper, had bounded into the woods and disappeared.

The initial story about Tia's disappearance, found below, dates back to January 5, 2012.

Fast forward to a story which I published on August 2 - just seven days ago.

In that story, an alert had been issued for a young, German shepherd housed in a Southern Los Angeles animal control facility; the dog had just 3 days to live.

Unbeknownst to me, this dog was in fact, Tia, the missing service dog from Virginia.

According to ABC 6 News, Tia was rescued by a Missouri dog trainer who somehow connected the dots after finding a post on Facebook. That trainer contacted Cooper, who was able to finally, after eight months, be reunited with her missing dog.

Cooper speculates that her dog was stolen.

What a journey this dog has had.

Sadly, Tia was never microchipped; had she been, it is highly unlikely that she would have been at risk of death at the California animal control facility.

An incredible reunion - a miracle save.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/an-unbelievable-reunion-for-lost-service-dog-who-was-nearly-killed-a-shelter

Original story at http://www.examiner.com/article/veteran-s-service-dog-missing

Veteran's service dog missing
By: Penny Eims
January 5, 2012

Prince Edward County, VA - Tia is a 4 yr-old German shepherd who functions as a service dog for a disabled veteran named Karren Cooper.

Tia is a friend, companion and lifeline for Cooper who suffered a disabling brain injury during Desert Storm.

But right now Tia is missing and Cooper is beside herself with worry.

On New Years Eve, Tia disappeared after bolting into dense woods off of Meherrin Road.

Since that time, Cooper has been scouring the woods with the help of local hunters - calling for the missing dog to no avail.

Earlier today, a possible sighting was reported in the Quail Reed subdivision in Cumberland County.

A woman spotted a dog who looked like Tia, but that dog bolted away.

Cooper spent the afteroon in the area, once again, walking and calling out for her dog.

Cooper thinks that someone may have picked Tia up and dropped her in Cumberland County after seeing a local news story about the missing dog.

When Tia disappeared, she was wearing an orange collar and tags (which may have fallen off during her travels). At the time, her owner's phone number was written on the collar in permanent ink as well.

Tia is not microchipped.

Sandy, golden mix

Dog lost in Waldo Canyon Fire reunited with owner a month later

by Jacqui Heinrich 

Jul 30, 2012 5:04 PM

Abram Faith was driving home after a night of camping near Rampart Reservoir when he took a turn for the worse-- literally. "We took a last turn too quick on the dirt road and the car toppled about 3 times," Faith says.



What he didn't realize was that his luck was about to bottom out; while checking the condition of his two dogs trapped in their smashed kennel, Sandy, a mixed breed of a golden color, escaped. "When I opened the door Sandy girl just split from the cage, just jetted from the cage." Faith recalls. He spent hours trying to track her down, until he was pushed out of the area. The Waldo Canyon fire's flames were creeping ever closer.

Faith waited anxiously to see if the road where Sandy was lost would reopen, posting photos of the dog on Facebook and Craigslist and emailing animal control officials in the meantime. He thought he had reached a dead end until Angie Davis, a shelter volunteer at the Teller County Regional Animal Shelter, gave him the phone call he had been waiting for.

"I had been looking for her for three weeks, ever since the incident, ever since I was told she was missing, I had been looking for that dog," Davis says. Davis lives near the area where Sandy was reported missing, and had been checking shelters and surrounding streets whenever she had time. While walking through rows of cages one day while volunteering, she spotted Sandy and reunited her with her owner. "She came alive and her whole body wagged. It was awesome."

Faith says at one point he was convinced Sandy was gone forever; after all, she was found about twelve miles from where she was lost, and spent a month surviving in an area consumed by flames.

Faith is now thanking Davis and other Humane Society personnel for their hard work in locating his best friend, and urging other dog owners to microchip their pets.

Source: http://www.koaa.com/news/dog-lost-in-waldo-canyon-fire-reunited-with-owner-a-month-later/

Amadeus - beagle lab mix

Dog owner reunited with stolen companion

Posted: Jul 24, 2012 2:00 AM EDT 

GALLATIN, Tenn. - A Middle Tennessee woman was reunited with her dog after the Beagle Lab mix was taken by a couple at a convenience store not far from her Gallatin home.

A clerk at the Sudden Service store on Coles Ferry and Airport roads reported seeing a couple take the dog and drive away with him on July 6. 

The couple indicated to Amy Watson they would return her dog, but never did, so she filed a police report. 

Monday afternoon, Watson said Gallatin police showed up at her home with her lost-and found dog, Amadeus.

An officer told Watson Amadeus was getting excited as they were approaching her home. 

In an email she wrote, "So happy to [have] my companion home and my second pair of ears!"

Watson declined to press charges against the couple that took Amadeus and said she only wanted him home safely.

Source: http://www.wkrn.com/story/19095043/dog-owner-reunited-with-stolen-companion

Previous Story (at http://www.wkrn.com/story/19048590/dog-owner-says-couple-refuses-to-give-missing-pet-back):

Owner says couple won't return lost-and-found dog

Reported By Andy Cordan, Reporter
Posted: Jul 17, 2012

GALLATIN, Tenn. - A Middle Tennessee woman claims a couple who picked up her dog after he ran away from home earlier this month refuses to return the canine.

Amy Watson said her Beagle Lab mix, Amadeus, ran about a half-mile from her home to a nearby convenience store on July 4.

Watson told Nashville's News 2 Investigates Amadeus suffers from a skin condition on his neck so he was not wearing a collar at the time he disappeared.

Not only does the six-year-old dog serve as Watson's companion, he is also her second set of ears since she has 85% bilateral hearing loss.

Since his disappearance, Watson said she and her friends have spent time posting "Missing" posters.

Watson told Nashville's News 2 Investigates the last she heard, Amadeus was last spotted at the Sudden Service store located at Coles Ferry and Airport roads.

According to a police report, a store clerk reported a couple took the dog on July 6 and drove away in a four-door blue sedan.

Watson said she has given the clerks a poster of Amadeus. They told police they passed the poster with Watson's contact information on to the couple. They also reported the couple indicated they would call her and return the dog.

Watson said she waited patiently for several days but the couple never called so she filed a police report.

"I finally broke down and cried this morning. This is my furry son.  At this point they have effectively stolen my dog and I hope they are taking care of him," she said.

"They have my information. I guess they fell in love with him like I did and just don't want to give him back," Watson continued.  "It was [initially] a good act, and they took him in, to get him out of harms way, since then, it's been more than a week and had my info and now willfully withholding my property."

Gallatin police said they are searching for a blue four-door sedan and a blue pickup truck.

The couple who is believed to have Amadeus is said to live in Westmoreland.

Police said they could face misdemeanor theft charges.