Reminders of Missing Pets Past and Present
July 1st, 2011
Hanah, several days after the Joplin Tornado
As we enter the 4th of July weekend, I’m reminded of Anastasia, our then 8-year-old Maltese, who, 17 years ago today, got away from my mother in law, who was watching her while we were out of town.
Ana was spooked by the fireworks and ran into an unfamiliar neighborhood, never to be seen again.
Oh, we did what we could in the 1994 pre-social media era. When we were finally able to get an earlier flight home on a holiday weekend (my great aunt, who was my grandmother figure in my life also died that weekend), we canvassed the neighborhood and surrounding areas again, put up posters and handed out fliers. I checked the shelters and ran an ad in two daily newspapers for 6 months.
Because Ana had wiggled out of her collar, our 6 pound little girl didn’t have any identification. There were never any confirmed sightings and only cruel prank phone calls resulted in our efforts.
It was heartbreaking for us and something, nearly two decades later, I’ve never quite gotten over. And I admit, for years, it strained my up until then good relationship with my husband’s step mother.
That’s why I can identify so well with these stories I’ve seen on Facebook this summer: .
Bella is a dog that was involved in a serious car wreck with her owner and his friend. After the accident, the car burst into flames and as Bella’s owner, who had two broken ankles, dragged his unconscious passenger from the burning wreckage, Bella escaped into a vast urban area.
Social media helped her get discovered by an alert dog lover two days later.
Then there was George, a Boxer, stolen, along with the truck he was in. The truck was stolen in Maine and located in Boston, Mass., but no George. His picture was posted far and wide and he was recovered the next day not far from where the truck was stolen.
Most of the stories are not so happy. Like Marco Polo, the lost cat. Marco recently relocated with his owner from Miami, Fla., to Kansas City, Mo., and slipped out an open door in May. Marco has his own Facebook page, “Find Marco Polo, the lost cat,” but to date, Marco hasn’t been found.
The two Malamutes, Maya and Cesar, stolen from the enclosed camper shell of a pick up truck in Ukiah, Calif., that we posted on K9 Cuisine’s Facebook page, have yet to be located, although social media is aiding in reported sightings.
Perhaps one of the saddest stories is that of Hanah, the American Bulldog that was ripped in May from her owner’s arms by the Joplin F5 Tornado, as they all huddled in a closet. Hanah was spotted and photographed several days later, battered and dirty, a mile away from her former home.
I’m not clear who took the photo or why they didn’t take Hanah to the Humane Society, which has done an excellent job of reuniting pets and families and adopting those out that were not claimed.
But the “Bring Hanah Home” Facebook page has drawn over 7,600 likes. Because Hanah could be anywhere by now, either taken from the region by a well-meaning rescue that came to help the devastated city, or someone else, her story has been told nationwide and fliers were even recently passed out at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Her owners, we are told through updates, continue to hope she will be found and returned.
Besides the fact that social media is becoming more prominent in animal recovery and rescue, there are other lessons to be learned from these heart-breaking stories.
- Our pets, for many various reasons, should never be left alone in parked vehicles. Two of these pets I mentioned were stolen while inside parked trucks.
- Our furry family members should always be wearing a collar with identification tags. They should have both tags with their name, address and contact information, as well as their rabies vaccination tags. If they lose one, they will still have the other. Veterinarian tags have led to many a happy reuniting of pet and owners. Even my husband and I are guilty of letting our pets go without their collars here in the country. There does loom the small possibility that any of our dogs could be picked up and relocated by thieves or natural forces such as a tornado. It’s a big mistake we’ve corrected. As one poster descripted id tags: It is our pet’s phone call home.
- Pets should be microchipped. I know it is a controversial topic for some pet parents, due to the very low instance of some chips being associated with cancerous tumors. But personally, I would rather take that very small chance than have one of my dogs possibly be lost or stolen and then end up someday in a high kill shelter. To my knowledge, Marco Polo the cat was the only pet in my above examples that was microchipped.
- Finally, generally, pets should be restrained while traveling with us in our vehicles, even for short rides to the vet or dog park. They should either have a pet seat belt or be put into a carrier. It’s not only safer for us when we’re driving, but is generally safer for the pet if there is an accident, or even if you’re pulled over by a dog wary police officer. I know there are instances, as there are with humans, that seatbelts are not a safer option. Bella, it was pointed out to me, would likely be dead if she had been restrained in the car that wrecked and caught fire. but that is more unlikely than having an accident and having your pet scamper away from the safer confines of the wrecked vehicle.
I hope all of our U.S. based readers have a Happy and Safe 4th of July holiday and keep your furry family members cool, safe and away from fireworks!
Do you have a story of having lost a four-legged family member? Were they recovered, where and how?
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Tags: hanah the joplin tornado dog, microchipping pets, Reminders of missing pets past and present
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13 Responses to “Reminders of Missing Pets Past and Present”
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Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell has had dogs all of her life. Her first rescue was Hershey, a miniature black and brown Dacshund. She ruled the Campbell household until 2005 when she passed away at age 16. The case of Scruffy, a Yorkshire terrier whose torture death was videotaped in 1997, horrified the nation when the tape appeared on national news shows. Kerri began covering the trial for the local daily newspaper in Kansas City, Kansas where the crime occurred. Her investigation into animal cruelty cases led to her awareness of the puppy mill problem in that state.
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These stories are so, so heartbreaking! I’ve heard stories – and experienced it with one of my own dogs, who got away and walked 15 miles back to our old house right after we moved – of dogs finding their way back to their owners. I wish it would happen in these cases. But it IS nice to hear a few happy endings, too.
Thanks for including Maya and Cesar’s story. We’ve been knocking ourselves out this week to help their family via social media. The dogs belong to a neighbor’s nephew.
And, I must be goofy because I thought I read someone that Hannah had been found. It’s so hard to keep up.
We had a couple dogs go missing when I was a kid, but as an adult (knock on wood), we haven’t had anything more than a short disappearance now and then.
I’m doing a post on my blog soon about this, but check out Amber Alerts for Pets http://www.amberalertforpets.com/
Be sure it’s this site and not others with similar names … I’ve heard reports of problems with $$, service, etc. with others.
That makes two of us, Sheryl. These pets deserve to be reunited with the people who love them.
Thanks for all the info, Roxanne. And no, Hanah has unfortunately not been found yet. There have been some hopeful possible sightings, but nothing as of yet.
My dog was missing for 3 of the worse months of my life. I search daily my Family search daily. By the grace of God he was returned to us 3 months to the day he was lost. He does have a chip the only reason I am replying to your story is I have never recovered from the fact he was lost. It has been 3 years it happened 6/11/08 he came home Sept 11. I still feel the pain and fear. I am so very sorry your wee one was never returned to you. My boy is getting old now and I know someday I will loose him but at least I will know where he is. We to went thru the horrible phone calls, I will never understand how someone can be so cruel. I will keep you in my prayers. I just wanted to say I am so very sorry for your loss.
Thank you so much, Patricia, for your kind words. It is a different kind of lost when a pet goes missing. You’re not there to help or protect them. We did have another dog, Emma, go missing last summer from our home here in the country. We’re in such a remote location, however, we’re convinced that at her advanced age, she died and an animal carried her body away (because I heard her in the front yard just an hour before she was missing). She would never have went with anyone and just the day before, she had been diagnosed with probable multiple cancerous tumors on her leg. We searched for months for her as well, or for her body, or even her collar, but we’re in thousands of acres of woods. We had to accept that this is sometimes the way it happens in the natural world. However, with Ana, I’ll never know who got her or if she suffered. And with the phone calls, I agree. Horrible, horrible people. I remember one particular call so graphic that I was up all night. I don’t understand it either.
Having seen the hundreds of animals at the Humane Society in Joplin, never again will I allow a pet of mine to go without a tag. Both our dogs are now microchipped before they were available for adoption. I too have been guilty of not having tags on my dog, but seeing so many loved animals who couldn’t be reunited because they had no ID was heartbreaking! Our older dog got out one night a few years ago and I literally ran the neighborhood for hours, I didn’t know how to come home without him. Luckily he came back, but I can relate all too well with the pain of these stories. I hope all the pets come home!!!
Thanks, Megan. I hope they all come home too. Good for you on the tags and microchips. The peace of mind is well worth the monetary cost, for sure.
Kerri- thank you for including my nephew’s dog, Bella, in your blog. I really believe the most important thing to take away from Bella’s story, is what you point out above regarding ALWAYS making sure an animal has some kind of I.D. on them at all times. Bella and my nephew were very, very lucky. Once friends and family knew she escaped the accident scene, a large number of people immediately posted her photo, the location of the scene of the accident and detailed info about her, including the likelihood that she was injured due to the wreck, on the internet and facebook.
I contacted a friend who coordinates volunteers for the local animal shelter, and she took all of Bella’s information and passed it on to volunteers so they would be looking for Bella if she was turned in to the shelter. A woman out walking her own dog, spotted Bella and said that Bella came up to her and looked right in her eyes as if she needed help. Bella was also limping. The woman said she just could not turn away from Bella and leave her there. Had Bella been wearing a collar with I.D., it would have been a simple matter for the woman to get a phone number to call and have her returned to my nephew. But, she had no tags, no I.D. and no micro-chip.
Fortunately, this woman was kind hearted enough to take it upon herself to try to find Bella’s owner anyway. She took Bella home and got online to see if she could find a missing dog matching Bella’s description. Because of all the people who posted info online, the woman had no trouble pulling up a profile and photo that matched Bella’s description. Not only that, but the woman also saw that the accident Bella was involved in, happened just a few blocks from her house, and the fact that Bella was limping clinched it. As I say, it was sheer luck that Bella came upon somebody who was willing to take the time and effort involved in going onto the internet and searching for owners. Most dogs are not that lucky. Many people might at least look for an I.D. tag, but few would take the dog to their house and start doing an internet search. Moral of the story- don’t let your pet go out without I.D.! Thanks for another great blog, Kerri!
Thanks, Kathleen. You’re right, our pets should have id at all times. I do hope your nephew has gotten her id tags and will have her microchipped. I’m so glad she was found by such a hero.
We lost our dog in Niger. She was a puppy we rescued and she slipped out one day. One of the saddest things that has ever happened to our family.
We found Marco! Kerri, your column was the charm. Marco was found today 20 blocks north and one block west of my house by a woman who saw his poster at the vet. He had been hanging around her house for a few weeks, and she had been getting to know him and would have kept him if she hadn’t found his home. He had lost his collar.
Thanks for this post – it’s so sad to think of pets out there lost and alone, and their owners hoping beyond hope they’ll be found. I’m spreading the word and hope at least a few of them find their way back home.
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