A few nights ago, we went out to the garage to kennel the dogs up, as always. Spencer, the beagle, was in the yard, baying with all his might toward the south end of the farm. We noticed he was limping, and he had a small puncture wound on his stomach. But as for Belle, our munsterlander? She was nowhere to be found. Matt called and called, staying up late to see her safely in, but she just didn't show up. We headed to bed, convinced that the morning would find her sleeping on the front porch rug.
But she didn't come home. Not that day, and not the next. During this time, I put out the Facebook and local radio APB on our wayward dog, thinking she probably had gotten picked up by one of the many hunters in the area, or by a helpful farmer somewhere in the vicinity. Now, I'm an eternal optimist. If there is the slightest chance of sunshine, I'm going to claim it. Matt, on the other hand, is what my friend likes to call "a guarded optimist," meaning he'll try to face things positively, but he'll come up with about ten dire scenarios in the meantime. The most plausible of these scenarios? That she had been tracked down by coyotes. Each night, we hear packs howling in the fields around the yard, which is one of the reasons we like to kennel the dogs at night. The other reason has to do with skunks...stay tuned for more explanation. Added to Matt's theory: Spencer's injuries and the fact that our once-feral beagle was now moping around the yard, refusing to go farther than the lawn. Even I had my doubts by day three.
Then, while eating lunch, my mom spotted a lost-and-found ad in the Aberdeen newspaper: "Found: female springer spaniel." To most, Belle looks just like a springer, so I made the call, knowing it was a far shot; Aberdeen is about 1.5 hours from our place. The young man who answered told me that yes, he had found a female springer spaniel. Yes, she had the same collar and tags as Belle. She had been eating a skunk (groan) by the side of the road, and this man's wife almost hit her. When she saw it was a dog, she, being an awesome farm wife, tossed the smelly pup into the back of her pickup and headed home. They then bathed her (skunk and all) and brushed her coat. While she was drying, they put her in their machine shed to play with the kids. "Great! Oh, thank you SO much! We'll be there in about two hours to pick her up!" I said.
"But she's not here now," he said.
"Umm...she's not?" I asked.
"Nope. Hired man opened the machine shed door, and off she ran. So, she's probably somewhere in Aberdeen right now. Might want to check the pound. Or maybe the Humane Society. I'll get you the numbers."
Because apparently, running OVER SEVENTY-FIVE MILES from our home wasn't enough for our perky pooch!
So, I called the pound, and they had just picked up a female springer spaniel. This time, she had no collar (post-bath), so we just hoped for the best and piled the kids into the car.
Now, if anyone from Aberdeen is reading this, please, PLEASE consider re-evaluating your pound system. Here's how it works: a person has to drive to the pound, which is a kennel service 4 miles outside of town. They have to pick up paperwork. Then, they have to take it to the city building in downtown Aberdeen. Then, they have to pay the...wait for it...SIXTY dollar fine and get more paperwork. Then, they can drive back out of town to pick up the dog. However, the pound/kennel service owner works in Britton, so one must do all of this in a crazy time frame: pick up paperwork before the lady leaves for work, get to the city building before five, and pick up puppy after seven in the evening, when she gets back home again.
Really. So, make a day of it. A day when you should have been working to afford the sixty dollar fee. Suggestion? A fax machine.
However, lest I crab on and on about the lack of technology, I should point out that the end result was this: we have our Belle back, just in time for pheasant hunting season, and she is much cleaner than when she left, thanks to a very kind farm family.
And Spencer? He's back to his old, exploring, feral-beagle ways, happy that his girlfriend didn't leave him for good.
The things we do for the pets we love!
No comments:
Post a Comment