Dogs lost and found

» Ann_Lampard - Misha, the Silky Terrier

This is the story of the adventures of an old war veteran and his little mate, Misha. I went down to the local supermarket to my weekly shopping on Saturday, 5th December at 3 o'clock. On returning to the place where my car had been parked, I was horrified to find that my car had been stolen, along with my little dog Misha, who had always gone with me in the car. I raised the alarm with the shopping centre manager, who contacted the police.

The police found my car in the bush. It was bogged and burnt out by the people who had stolen it. There was no sign of my little mate, which meant that possibly she was still alive and trying to find me or where she lived.

After searching the bush where the burnt out remains of my car was for the whole of Sunday, there was no sigh of Misha, and with a heavy heart I returned home and spent a sleepless night terrified and full of fear for my soul mate.

On Monday morning, in sheer desperation, I went to our local primary school to try and get help from the children who might have seen a Silky Terrier running around where they lived. The school officials went into action immediately and asked for a photograph of Misha. They then made up a flyer and copied it 300 times so that the children could take one home and broaden the search.

These wonderful people got in touch with every school in the area and appraised them of what had happened and were assured that everyone in the five schools would help. I can't find enough words to express my gratitude to these very kind friends. I left the school with a lot more hope of finding my mate.

On Tuesday or Wednesday, our fortune took a turn for the better. Someone rang the school to say that he had overheard the thieves bragging about stealing my car and that Misha had jumped out of the car, and that they had tried to run over the little "B" but she got away. So now we were fairly sure that she was alive.

One of the school principal's reported that he had seen a dog answering to Misha's description, either gong home or on his way to school, the area was near the local rubbish tip. I immediately went to the tip and began to search for Misha. The lady in the landfill office confirmed that they had seen Misha crossing the road down near the tip.

I am very appreciative of the help given by my neighbour, Ron, who drove me around in his car.

I kept searching the area all Tuesday and it was with a heavy heart that I returned home in the darkness of the evening. I could not sleep or eat and was consumed with worry about Misha - how was she coping? Was she getting food and water? All sorts of fears went through my mind.

I resumed my search at first light on Wednesday morning and went down to the green waste section of the tip where Misha had been seen a few times. The weather was hot and stifling. A friend came along to help me in my search and as we were heading towards the green waste office, my friend looked up the hill and saw Misha. I was so ecstatic at seeing her and made my first mistake by shouting to her to come to us. I think that if we had stood still she would probably have come or at least sat there. I think she recognised me because her ears were erect. She was obviously very scared and disappeared into the green waste section again. I kept searching the area until it was dark.

After seeing Misha, a lot of the fear and worry disappeared because I knew that I would eventually be reunited with her.

On Thursday morning, one of the drivers at the landfill saw Misha running along the road. Initially he thought she was a fox. Apparently she ran off into the green waste section where there were many places to hide.

The long vigil was maintained, hour after hour, and stills no further sighting of Misha. Various friends kept coming to help in the search and bring me something to eat.

On Friday, I decided to hire a dog trap to see if I could trap her by putting some of her favourite food and water in it. This was a disaster because when I went home to see if there was any news, I was told that " some kind gentleman who had taken some prunings to the tip stole the dog trap". This unpleasant episode did not deter my search and I kept up my vigil despite the oppressive heat.

On Saturday, I returned to the tip, hoping for a miracle, but nothing happened. Some more of my friends helped me in my search.

My search continued on Sunday, during the morning I returned home for a break and as I entered the house, the phone was ringing - it was the lady from the tip office - one of the workmen had seen Misha. I sped to the tip, praying that this time she would come to me. I went to the spot where she had been seen, but there was no sign of her. However, we found her paw marks in the sand, which I followed until they stopped at a little bush. I stopped about 20 feet away, sank down on my knees and saw two little eyes looking at me. I knew for sure that this was my beloved Misha. If I made a move towards her, the chances were that she would bolt again, so I stayed still and softly whispered - "come on home sweetheart, you've had enough" and slowly she crept out and crawled towards me. As she came alongside me, my heart stood still, and then she crawled onto my lap, whimpered and licked my face. I knew then I could put my arms around her and pick her up. She was home again and my life was complete.

I could not have done without the help of all my friends and the school children, especially those from Orelia who came along and put their arms around me and said, "we love you Grandad Cliff. The world is full of truly good people. Thank you everyone.

-- posted by Ann_Lampard

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» Ann_Lampard - Postscript; Thanks

Many thanks go to Mr Stanley, for allowing his story to be told, and to Ms Hill for her efforts in editing the story.

Mr Stanley would like to give special thanks to all the local primary schools involved, Ron, Beryl and granddaughter Leonie, Audry, Hughie and Debbie.

-- posted by Ann_Lampard

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