As animal activists, pet sitters and dog walkers, the Wisconsin Pet Care LLC team is avid in helping the animal community. Many of us volunteer at local shelters, donate our time to fundraisers in the community, and train dogs that can’t be adopted to make them adoptable, do rescue transport, and volunteer for Lost Dogs of Wisconsin. Needless to say, you can surmise that we are an involved group of animal lovers, to which there is no denying.
On, June 17th my husband Wes and I were out enjoying a few precious moments on our bikes. On our path, we were stopped by a pet dad; literally in tears as he told us his heartbreaking tale. His baby girl, an 8 year old Merle Dane was missing and she had been gone for three days already. Heartbroken and scared, he cried to us how she is the love of his life and how heavily this weighed on him. He asked for our help. We took his flyer and promised our support.
As an intuitive person I KNEW right then and there, we would be the ones to find her.
With a sick feeling in our stomachs, we pedaled back home, scanned the flyer he gave us, posted it on Facebook and asked our neighbors to keep an eye out for her safe return. The following days, ALWAYS, in the corners of our eyes we looked for her. Wherever we drove, wherever I walked, I was looking for this gentle giant, who, certainly by this point was scared-tired-confused and most likely, hurt.
On Sunday morning, June 21st, Fathers Day, we were walking our three pups. While at the Prairie School in Racine, my husband spotted her! He followed her, and she disappeared. Giving me the leashes to our three standard poodles, I waited to see if we needed to combine leashes, but she had bolted. We walked. Cars started to pull into the parking lot and we asked the people arriving if they had seen her. One had-JUST DOWN THE STREET. We asked for him to drive Wes to find her-he was very leery but did anyway. After 10 minutes, he returned to tell me that he had her.
I became woman on a mission. I begged the people in their cars for help. Sadly, their tennis games were more important than helping us. G-d forbid they should miss 10 minutes of their precious tennis time to help animals in trouble. I was running like a madwoman yelling at anyone within earshot to help me. Having no luck, I ran home (well, running for me is power walking) and got my guys home. I filled up with water, called the number on the flyer we had saved and headed out to find Wes and Chloe. My first aid kit would undoubtedly be put to good use!
Off I went. When I arrived, the SUV who stopped us originally was there with Chloe in the back. The owners were crying, my husband was crying, we were all crying. My adrenaline was at its all time high. I was in FIX IT MAKE IT RIGHT MODE. I started swearing like a longshoreman over the tennis players who wouldn’t help. It was all good-no harm, no fowl. Chloe was back with her parents. Shame on these fellow pet owners who wouldn’t give 10 minutes of their time to help a lost pet get home to safety.
How does this tie into pet sitting? I’d like for you to read this post on Craigslist. “Trusted to relatives”…………
Many pet owners feel that relatives, neighbors, friends and teenagers are capable of caring for animals while you are away on vacation. Perhaps they are, but are you willing to risk your animal’s safety and health to a non-professional? If you decide to go the route of Chloe’s father, does your dog have her proper ID on her, just like Chloe did? What did the relatives do to find her? What would your neighbor do in this situation? A professional wouldn’t sleep until she was found. At what price peace of mind?
