It starts with a call I took yesterday evening. A woman called for her friends whose dog had run away while they were moving into their new house. It was a valuable pure-bred dog. They had moved from another state and the dog didn't know the area at all. In minutes she ran off and disappeared. Sometimes we would just refer the caller to check with the humane society and animal control in the morning, but I felt really sorry for these people so I made up a patrol info call (which was, of course, taken as information only by the officer). It was the best I could do for them. I hoped that maybe as he was driving around during his shift he might spot the dog and get it back to its owner.
Today, I was working a radio (thus not taking calls) when a message came around the room that my coworker's son had found a dog near his home in case someone called in a missing dog. I looked at the description and thought..hmm that sounds a lot like the dog that ran off last night. Then I went to lunch (it takes a long time to look things up in our new computer system). When I got back I looked up the call from the night before and my confidence that the dogs were one in the same grew. I called the owner & asked if she had found her dog yet. She said that someone called (she had posted on Craigslist) but it turned out not to be her dog. I told her that we had a found dog matching her dog's description & would it be alright if I gave him her # so that they could meet up. Well, this sounds like a happy ending, right? Not yet, not quite.
I called and told the young man that I thought I knew where the dog belonged and could he call her. He said that the dog had gotten away from him. I told him that the dog was a special purebred dog and that the people had just moved to the area and asked him to keep his eyes open for her. Sadly, I called the woman back to tell her that the dog had gotten away again, but I offered (a small grain of hope) that perhaps she would like to check that area on her own since it had just been spotted. She was very excited and immediately went searching.
A little bit later my coworkers son called back. He had found her again and this time was holding on to her so she couldn't run away. I was so excited to call the owner back and tell her that her dog had been found again. I kept her on the phone and gave her turn by turn directions until she got to the spot (her gps was giving her really off the wall directions). As she drew close she said, in a most disappointed voice, "Its not her. It's not my dog." My heart sank. Then with just a breath between she said "It is her!" I nearly cried sharing her joy (okay, maybe a tear or two escaped). Quietly I hung up the phone so she could enjoy the reunion with a pet she had doubted she would ever find.
Now, I don't write about this to pat myself on the back for remembering the call from the night before. It was neat how things worked out. If this call had happened on a night when I was not working. No one would have remembered- or found the call from last night (since I had coded it patrol information instead of animal control problem). If my friend's son had not found the dog the outcome could have been very different. A less scrupulous person might have recognized a valuable (and sweet) dog and taken it home for themselves, or worse, to use in dog fighting (it happens). If the person who took the original found dog call hadn't sent the message around I would not have become aware of the found dog. I just wanted to point out how a few circumstances can lead to a great outcome and being part of THAT makes this job great. I drove past the area where the lost dog call had come in from (it was on my way home) and my heart was glad thinking of how happy that household must be tonight- finally all together and safe. Good Stuff. Makes you think maybe someone said a prayer that their dog would be found.
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