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
Printer-friendly version here
Follow-up after Petie returned home: http://www.detnews.com/article/20111027/METRO/110270463/1409/Missing-terrier-Petie-reunited-with-owner-in-Tennessee