BHV Learning from Lessons
What makes BHV different?
We had a crazy incident last week. One of our long term clients was moving to Florida. She has 4 dogs that frequently board with us. Two of them were staying with us, and we were told that a transport driver would be picking them up to drive them out to her.
I was out of town at the time I saw the note in our communication log, and assumed this driver was someone who was trusted and knew the dogs. I make it home from my trip, it was a 12 hour drive, so the next day I was exhausted. I woke up from a nap to a text message from the client letting me know that one of her dogs, Harley, had slipped her collar at a welcome center near the Louisiana and Mississippi border. The transporter, security guards, and animal control chased her for hours around the center but were not able to catch her. The animal control officer decided he was going to dart her (I have never heard of this) and when he did, she took off running.
They chased her, but they eventually lost her. Once I had received the text from the client, she had already been missing for 24 hrs. The area she was lost in was 120,000 acres of forest that NASA had cleared of homes and businesses years ago so they could do rocket testing. This area was dense, it was wet, and for a dog who knew nothing but her comfy life and backyard… it was an absolute nightmare.
I was stunned when I read the text. If you know me though, I knew I had to do something. The transporter had left the area and continued down to Florida with the client’s other dog. So Harley was just out there. Immediately I tried to locate the welcome center on a map. I wasn’t exactly sure about location, so I posted what the owner told me was correct and got moving. I posted pictures all over any lost and found pages on Facebook from Alabama to Louisiana. I pleaded for help and let everyone know I wasn’t from that area. I also hit trucker lost and found pages and every city or town in between.
I had the owner contact a drone company, who was willing to head out, but we didn’t have anyone there to catch the dog if he found her. I was 12 hours away and the client was 8 hours away. Right away I started to receive comments etc from my posts. My location was wrong. I found the correct location, edited all the posts, and the search began. Some women reached out to me over messenger who lived in the area and went out that night at 10 pm to see if maybe Harley was still at the welcome center… no luck.
The next morning at 6 am, I got on the phone with these amazing women and they were in their vehicles with treats etc to begin the hunt. The drone guy was also on his way, but wouldn’t arrive until 8 am. Luckily…. we wouldn’t need him. I asked for the transporter to call one of the local women and tell them exactly where he last saw her. There wasn’t any judgement, we just wanted to find Harley.
I told the women she isn’t aggressive, she is scared, and will probably be in that same area. We chatted on the phone while they were looking, they went to the last area where she was spotted, and guess what?? She was out there. The chase was on. They stopped traffic, the bribed her with treats, and they were able to secure her. Not only that, they were willing to drive 4 hours to meet the owner half way and deliver her safe and sound.
Medically Harley had a systemic infection of unknown origin all over her body, her eyes were scratched, and she had lacerations on her feet. She was beat up, but she was going to live.
After all of this, I learned there are people out there that you don’t even know that are willing to help. These ladies and this network have become my friends. They never would have known she was out there because my client just didn’t know what to do. I didn’t either, but I am crazy. Luckily I found a group of people just as crazy as me. I will do ANYTHING to help BHV dogs and really, any animal. I am glad I was able to put myself out there and get her back due to the kindness of others.
