Dog Owners: Please help us get your runaway dogs back home

April 2, 2013

I posted on my “About” page that I love animals, especially dogs. I wrote this letter to the editor of our small town newspaper and wanted to share it here.

Lost dog
Dogs are lost daily in the US27147 / Dog Photos / CC BY-NC-ND

Yesterday I was driving down Meadowbrook, heading toward Hwy 193, when I came across two large dogs that were obviously running loose. I stopped the car to see if I could get a phone number from one of the dog’s tags. When I called to them, they were more than thrilled to come and play with me.

One of the dogs had a collar, but no tag. The other had a tag. I breathed a sigh of relief. The dog’s name is Cole. Cole is black with long hair. I called the number on the tag—no small feat when one is trying to punch numbers into a cell phone, hold a powerful dog still in order to see the faded phone number on the tag, and deal with the antics of the other, very friendly, short haired brown dog, who was now romping through my CRV with its muddy paws.

Don’t ask.

The telephone number on the tag did not belong to Cole’s owners. Maybe it did at one time, but not on this day. There were no license tags. And because it was Sunday, I couldn’t call Dr. Irene’s place and ask if Cole is a patient there. If the dogs are chipped, I had no way of finding out.

You might think I brought the dogs home with me and this letter is an effort to reunite Cole and his buddy with their owners. That would be wrong. I have no place to keep them, no way to care for them. It was impossible. Instead, I did something that was incredibly hard for me. I got into my car, shut the door and drove away with them running after me.

It broke my heart.

I sincerely hope that Cole and his buddy are back home and everything is as it should be. That’s what I’m telling myself. Dogs know how to find their way home. It’s innate.

If they didn’t make it home, I’m so sorry.

I’m hoping this letter will encourage people to be sure their dog’s tags are current and have the proper phone numbers and/or addresses. There are still those of us who will stop and try to get lost dogs back where they belong.

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