Why some dogs will whine or bark but others won't is a mystery to me. I'm sure someone has the answer out there, but it is an important lesson for all to learn: just because you do not SEE or HEAR your missing dog or cat DOES NOT mean that they are not RIGHT THERE (close by)! Thanks for commenting Jen, my friend. Sorry I've been out of touch.
Heart wrenching! So glad those two dogs were found. So sad about the others. I always try to help with missing dogs, and I try to tell the people who say they "ran away" or "I found a dog, it must have been dumped" that there are a million other things that could have happened. Thank you for sharing these stories.
And thank YOU Kathy for educating others when you encounter someone who lost or who found a dog. You never know how many reunions you'll be responsible for just by being vocal like that. Of course, there will always be resistance. We get that all of the time regarding the kitty litter myth and dogs found that have injuries are assumed to be “abused” when they could've been hit by a car, involved in car crash, etc.
I try. I live in the south (US) and people just assume dogs are "dumped" when in fact things are improving here a lot. I have noticed that most of the missing/lost dogs are those that were recently adopted. I suggest they haven't become accustomed to the new home, are scared, people are lax about closing gates or blocking holes in fences, etc etc. Sometimes there's a fence-jumper. There've been at least five dogs within the last few years who took off as soon as they arrived at the new home! Jumped out of the car and gone! I would love to see shelters/rescues do a training session for the people, teach the dogs the STAY command, things like that.
In one situation that was very sad and I still think about this dog all the time. The dog was newly adopted. They brought him to a trainer's house, a few doors away from where I lived at the time. We lived right on the state line between NC and SC. A dog could easily walk right across the state line, except there's a huge ditch right on the line. This dog climbed the fence at the trainer's house, with a leash still attached to his collar. People ran all over the neighborhood chasing him (sigh) and he vanished. Not only were we on the state line, but we had a lot of wide open spaces and forest to contend with, and that ditch. I often pictured him in my head, stuck in the ditch. We searched the ditch, we searched everywhere. Maybe someone picked him up in a car and gave him a wonderful home. I like to think that's what happened rather than his leash getting him stuck somewhere in the middle of a Carolina summer (he disappeared in late July). I still think about this dog every day. It hurts my heart. He's just ONE of many "stories" I have on this topic. Bless you for putting the word out there!
This is SO common in rescue. Prior to all the L&F Facebook pages, escaped dogs received NO attention. But ever since shelters started allowing rescues to come and save the skittish, fearful tempered dogs (that shelters previously deemed "unadoptable" and euthanized). Many are puppymill dogs that were never socialized. I believe there are a few groups out there working on education for rescues and transport groups (who lose many dogs, too). I'll write up a story about this topic. Thanks for sparking this important idea!
My sons cat went missing and though we called and searched feilds and neighboring homes for nearly two weeks we couldn’t find her. This is until a next door neighbor came home from visiting family out of state. When they opened their garage door she came running out. She then came to our back patio door and meowed. My son open the door and she walked eagerly to her food and water dishes. Somehow she survived nearly two weeks without food or water. We renamed her Lucky.
Thank you Mary for sharing that story. I'm glad it was a happy ending. I once worked a case where a 14-year-old cat was trapped under a neighbor's house for FIVE weeks without food or water, and lived! He had kidney damage, but survived. It was the rainy season so it's possible he had some water, but not much! They sure are remarkable survivors!
Amazing about the dog wrapped in the cable wires. Wow...right under your nose, so to speak.
Why some dogs will whine or bark but others won't is a mystery to me. I'm sure someone has the answer out there, but it is an important lesson for all to learn: just because you do not SEE or HEAR your missing dog or cat DOES NOT mean that they are not RIGHT THERE (close by)! Thanks for commenting Jen, my friend. Sorry I've been out of touch.
leave no stone unturned. There literally may be a pet underneath.
Heart wrenching! So glad those two dogs were found. So sad about the others. I always try to help with missing dogs, and I try to tell the people who say they "ran away" or "I found a dog, it must have been dumped" that there are a million other things that could have happened. Thank you for sharing these stories.
And thank YOU Kathy for educating others when you encounter someone who lost or who found a dog. You never know how many reunions you'll be responsible for just by being vocal like that. Of course, there will always be resistance. We get that all of the time regarding the kitty litter myth and dogs found that have injuries are assumed to be “abused” when they could've been hit by a car, involved in car crash, etc.
I try. I live in the south (US) and people just assume dogs are "dumped" when in fact things are improving here a lot. I have noticed that most of the missing/lost dogs are those that were recently adopted. I suggest they haven't become accustomed to the new home, are scared, people are lax about closing gates or blocking holes in fences, etc etc. Sometimes there's a fence-jumper. There've been at least five dogs within the last few years who took off as soon as they arrived at the new home! Jumped out of the car and gone! I would love to see shelters/rescues do a training session for the people, teach the dogs the STAY command, things like that.
In one situation that was very sad and I still think about this dog all the time. The dog was newly adopted. They brought him to a trainer's house, a few doors away from where I lived at the time. We lived right on the state line between NC and SC. A dog could easily walk right across the state line, except there's a huge ditch right on the line. This dog climbed the fence at the trainer's house, with a leash still attached to his collar. People ran all over the neighborhood chasing him (sigh) and he vanished. Not only were we on the state line, but we had a lot of wide open spaces and forest to contend with, and that ditch. I often pictured him in my head, stuck in the ditch. We searched the ditch, we searched everywhere. Maybe someone picked him up in a car and gave him a wonderful home. I like to think that's what happened rather than his leash getting him stuck somewhere in the middle of a Carolina summer (he disappeared in late July). I still think about this dog every day. It hurts my heart. He's just ONE of many "stories" I have on this topic. Bless you for putting the word out there!
This is SO common in rescue. Prior to all the L&F Facebook pages, escaped dogs received NO attention. But ever since shelters started allowing rescues to come and save the skittish, fearful tempered dogs (that shelters previously deemed "unadoptable" and euthanized). Many are puppymill dogs that were never socialized. I believe there are a few groups out there working on education for rescues and transport groups (who lose many dogs, too). I'll write up a story about this topic. Thanks for sparking this important idea!
You’re welcome and thank YOU for writing up a piece on this. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
My sons cat went missing and though we called and searched feilds and neighboring homes for nearly two weeks we couldn’t find her. This is until a next door neighbor came home from visiting family out of state. When they opened their garage door she came running out. She then came to our back patio door and meowed. My son open the door and she walked eagerly to her food and water dishes. Somehow she survived nearly two weeks without food or water. We renamed her Lucky.
Thank you Mary for sharing that story. I'm glad it was a happy ending. I once worked a case where a 14-year-old cat was trapped under a neighbor's house for FIVE weeks without food or water, and lived! He had kidney damage, but survived. It was the rainy season so it's possible he had some water, but not much! They sure are remarkable survivors!