WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DOGS? (PART ONE)

The evening of July 2, 2010, we loaded up the truck with tables and chairs and readied to take them over to Brian’s sisters house for huge family festivities that were taking place over the holiday weekend. We crated the dogs, closed the slider screen to the outside screened patio and took off.

I can’t remember what time we left, but it was early evening daylight. We didn’t even think about fireworks. I should have since I had heard distant firecrackers the day before. We arrived home about 9:30 p.m. and went to let the pups out of their crates and stood at the door shocked. Two of the crate doors were wide open. Dumfounded, I looked around and saw that the sliding screen door (which is broken and very hard to open) was opened just wide enough for dogs to fit through. I went into the screened in patio and saw that the screen on the door going to the back was no longer secured into the door. Running outside yelling “Abby… Sky…” over and over and hearing nothing back but the silence of the dark night.

The only thing we could do was get in the car and drive the streets of our “development” looking for our missing dogs. We drove slowly up and down streets knowing that our dogs knew the sound of Brian’s diesel truck; my dogs knew when Daddy was coming home minutes before I did because of the sound of his truck. We live in what is called a development, however just about each house is surrounded by thick woods. Moving here was our dream, that night, not so much.

We came home to a mostly sleepless night. Even though we had the hole in the screen I had Brian prop the screen door open and turn on the flood lights in the back just in case they found their way home during the night. I would wake up and look out the window overlooking the patio to see if my precious pups made it home. Nothing.

The first thing I did the next morning was to pull out the phone book to get locations of the shelters in the area. I found three numbers: Animal Control, County Animal Shelter and the City Humane Society. I called Animal Control since they opened at 7:00a.m. and he explained that A/C picks up reported stray animals and delivers them to the shelters depending on where they are picked up at. I gave them a description and my phone number and told them I would be bringing a flier by their office so they could get a good visual on my babies. We handed out fliers to every person we saw. Many people told of the fireworks of the night before. During the couse of several conversations, we found out that the people down the street from us had what was described as a “commercial display” shortly after dark.

We hit the road again in on the streets behind out house. When I got to the Animal Control office, the agent wasn’t there, but I stuffed a flier into the crack of his office door. I do live in civilization, but most of the homes are anywhere from 2 acres to 5+ acres so it’s not heavily populated. We also have state owned property behind our house. Woods so thick that the only time you can walk around is during the winter when all the foliage looses leaves and the brush goes bare. Looking was frustrating because what were once hallways of green beauty, turned into the ugly jungle that had my dogs.

After hours of looking we came home to wait. The first call was the animal control officer! He told me he had picked up Abby and had taken her to the County Shelter but they were closed for the weekend and I could not pick her up until Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. He told me that he did see Sky but told me where he found Abby so maybe I could look in that area. I was joyous that they found Abby but still frantic about Sky. So we hit the road posting new fliers with just Sky’s photo on it. This entry is about Abby and I will share my Silly Skylie’s story later.

Waiting for Tuesday, July 6, was like an eternity for us. We kept telling ourselves Abby was safe, but I was worried that she may have injured herself in her night in the woods. There are all kinds of critters that Abby would not know what kind of behaviors to expect. Abby was my hunter she loved chasing lizards, frogs and the first time she saw a deer she really, really needed to investigate that animal. I was worried about what kind of food she was being fed in the shelter. Corn makes her scratch so I expected to see most of her fur licked off her legs. She’s allergic to fleas/ticks and she was due for her next application of flea and tick treatment. She was a high maintenance dog and I knew I was in for vet bills when I got her home.

Tuesday morning we drove to the shelter at 10:00 a.m. I just didn’t “feel” right. The gate up the road was closed and pad locked. I would call and call and got the same message over and over again…. “Due to short staffing and the holiday weekend, the shelter would be closed until 10:00 a.m. Tuesday July 6.” I kept called Animal Control and they explained that they didn’t work for the shelter, they just dropped off the dogs. I pleaded, “what can I do, how can nobody be here”. What about these dogs? Do they have food/water?

My wonderful friend, Kathy Mills, also got on the phone trying to contact the shelter and animal control and every one she could think of. A/C suggested we contact the county offices to see what we could find out. Kat called the Mayor’s office and got the “well, I don’t know…” which wasn’t acceptable to my friend. She gave the gal on the phone “what for” and asked her how she would feel if her animals were being held hostage and how would she feel if she could not get any answers. Kat gave the Mayor’s office my name and phone number. I called about 1:00 myself and the gal knew who I was and assured me that she was trying to find out something and would call me the minute she heard anything.

About 2:00 that afternoon the Mayor’s office called me informed me that the one full time staff person was ill and the shelter would not open until the next day. She assured me I could pick up my dog at 10:00 a.m the following day. She assured me that all the animals are fed/watered daily by the part time kennel person they have on staff. Oh, I was mad and so worried about Abby’s condition. All this time, I did not know she was dead.