we were distraught and immediately started an appeal on facebook. the photo of our amazing pooch spread like wild fire, amazingly, reaching nearly 1000 people! i contacted the police and the dog homes and shared her photo with pet shops and local businesses. two nights passed and not a word. we told poppy that her doggy was off playing with friends when she asked and tried to act normal during the day but search frantically once the wee ones were in bed...
wednesday afternoon a pet shop across town got in touch to say that a couple had been in the shop with a dog who looked exactly like lily and they were even calling her lily! she asked the couple to leave the dog with her and showed them the facebook photo and appeal. they wouldn't but they did leave an address. this was obviously a false one but the police tracked them down and brought lily home to us safe and sound. my daughter sat by her and placed her hand on her head and said
i love you lily, i don't want you to go away ever again
we have had the most emotional week and are physically drained but so so happy that our family is now complete again.
so what happened? well, after our afternoon walk, i tied lily up outside the school while i went to a mums and tots group. i text my husband to say she was there and to pick her up. he never got the text. by the time i got out she was gone (i thought sam had her, he thought i had her) lily was tied up for around 40 minutes and this couple thought she had been abandoned and took her home (so they say) however, they never called the number on her collar, reported her to the police or the local dog homes or dog warden. they removed her collar and attempted to buy her a new one. when asked to do the right thing in the pet shop they refused and left with her. this is not the actions of a couple who were concerned about her welfare and had no intention of returning her.
it is a sad world where people think it is okay to just take a dog from a family. however, we are not blameless. this is an eye opener. do not take anything for granted. keep your loved ones close and savour every moment.
