Quiet a Scare

Saturday evening, my foster Misty's new Dad came to pick her up. They had been vacationing in Puerto Rico for a week or so and had just flown into Atlanta that night. Their little girl had been anticipating the arrival of Misty for two weeks or more.

Well, not 15 minutes after leaving my house, Misty's Dad called me to say something was wrong. My first thought was that he had been in a car wreck and something had happened to Misty. Unfortunately something just as bad had happened - Misty escaped while he was getting her out of the SUV. My mouth went dry and my heart starting pounding. I told him I would be right there.

I immediately ran into the bathroom, stuck my contacts in my eyes, threw on my shorts and a t-shirt and stuck on my tennis shoes. I crated my girls and gave them a cookie and said "bye for now". And then I was off!

Luckily, Misty's new family lived within 5 miles of me so I was there in no time. On the way, I called Kim who subsequently called Scott. Everyone converged in the neighborhood of the new adopter within a half hour or so. It was amazing, to say the least, and always makes me proud to be a part of such a wonderful group. As I said on our email list, we would move "heaven and earth" to help find one of our lost hounds.

We had spent a good bit of time in a cul-de-sac that butted up against this neighborhood. We heard quite a few barking dogs and I told Robert (Misty's Dad) that they must be barking at something and maybe it was Misty. I used the squawker and sure enough, Misty came out of the woods. I called her name and she immediately turned and ran back into the woods. Robert and I proceeded into the brush, hoping she would stay put and we could catch her. She did have her leash and collar on as well as her Second Chance Greyhound tag. I was hoping the leash would get snagged on something which would immobilize her, giving us a chance to grab her. She is a skittish thing so I knew she wouldn't just walk up to us.

About the time that Kim arrived, Robert and I had headed to the neighborhood behind his, which was called Heritage. Funny enough, this neighborhood is located off Austin Bridge which is the same road my neighborhood is on! Anyhoo, we walked that neighborhood for what seemed like hours, trying to find the back of it, the portion that would have backed up against his neighborhood. We thought we had found it because we heard the barking dogs. Yes, they were still barking. Along the way, we passed out business cards to folks we found out and about. It was late, maybe 11:00 p.m. by then but we did run into a few folks. Everyone was very nice, wishing us luck in finding Misty.

In the meantime, Kim was patrolling the cul-de-sac in Robert's neighborhood in case Misty decided to run back out of the woods. One of Robert's neighbors was there as well. I believe they were walking about when one of the homeowners in the cul-de-sac approached them with a pistol, asking what they were doing, etc. Obviously, this scared Kim half to death. When they explained they were looking for a lost dog, the man backed off and actually wished them luck as well.

About this time, Scott and his girlfriend, Tricia, arrived on the scene. Robert and I were walking back to my vehicle when Kim called to say they were going to branch out and search some more, from their vehicles. Scott and Tricia actually ended up driving to Heritage where Robert and I were, however, by that time, we had headed back to Robert's neighborhood. We hadn't even made it back to his house when Kim called to say that Scott had spotted Misty. She was in Heritage and he had her cornered. She was running around and around one house. Robert and I turned around, heading that direction. About then, Kim called again to say that Scott had Misty. WOW, I think that's the first time I had breathed since Robert's initial call some 3 1/2 hours earlier. It seems that Misty's leash got caught on something with afforded Scott the opportunity to grab her. Funny, she was right where Robert and I were not 15 minutes before.

Luckily for us, she was in fine shape. A few briers but that was all. As you know, Greyhounds are sprinters with no true endurance so she was obviously exhausted from the ordeal but seemed in good spirits otherwise. When we all arrived back at Robert's house, we all hugged on Misty while Mariam (Robert's wife) got Misty a bowl of water and then some liquid nourishment for us as well. We stood around marveling at Misty's calm demeanor while we were all attempting to come down from the adrenaline high. She just looked at us as if to say, "what's the big deal - I just went on a midnight stroll"!

What a harrowing experience for sure. There is nothing worse than loosing a Greyhound, especially in a brand new neighborhood. Robert's neighbors were so nice and helpful and without Kim, Scott, and Tricia coming to the rescue, I'm sure we would still be looking for Misty. It does take a team, and that we were. As someone said, "we rock"! I have to agree.

Here is a map of the area. The "A" pointer is Misty's new home. The red circle indicates the last sighting where she came out of the woods and the yellow circle is in the vicinity of where Scott found her.

On a side note, whilst rummaging through the forest with Robert searching for Misty, I couldn't help thinking to myself, "you're going to get poison ivy". I am so allergic to it, it's not even funny. Sure enough, this morning I woke up with a few welts on my hand and my neck. I'm waiting on "the others" to appear as I'm sure there will be more! I think an Epsom Salt bath is in my future.