I was out of town last week for my Sister's wedding on 5/24. My friend in Palm Bay, south east of Port Malabar and Babcock, off Meadowbrooke, called me on Saturday morning to let me know that my Sheltie, Maggie had run away. We have put up signs, contacted shelters, contacted vets, offered a reward on the signs, called the SPCA, etc, with no luck. She had a collar on, with a tag with our correct contact information but have not heard anything.
I am offering a reward for anyone that is able to help bring my dog home safely. As it's been a week, she could be anywhere. Maggie is a skiddish, but friendly dog. I don't believe she would approch someone, but fear that someone may have taken her in, and are keeping her.
I have received a couple "leads" but unsure how much to rely on them. One woman called and said she thought she saw her running East across a street on Friday night, about 30 minutes after she was lost, this sounds like it could be her, as it's in the right area.
My friend that lost the dog told me to come by their house last night, and said they had bad news. There was a couple driving down their street, and saw one of the lost dog signs, my friend's neighbor happened to see them looking, and ask if they had seen her, they believed they had. The neighbor led them to my friends house to tell the story. These people said that they were driving down the highway at about 8:30 AM on Saturday, the day after she was lost, and said that they saw someone on the side of the highway trying to lure a sheltie to them, and it bolted into the road and someone else hit the dog, and kept going. The husband said that his wife was there, and she works for "Florida Aid to Animals" and was confident it was my dog. He said he was going to pickup the carcass, as they're sure it was killed, the car was going about 80, but he had to take his wife home. When he got back, the body was gone. This means that someone picked up a dead dog, which i'm 100% certain Maggie's collar was on tight enough that it wouldn't come off. I stand firm that if someone is going to pickup a dead dog, they're going to have the courage to call the number on the tags. Some people disagree with me, and say that it can be really difficult to do that, and maybe they just buried the dog. Maybe I'm wrong, but there's a lot to this that doesn't make sense to me.
There was another report of a dead dog on the side of the same highway, about 3 hours earlier, but when my friend went to look, there was no dog. He called animal control and they said there was a dead crane on the side of the road and no dog.
Maggie is a sheltie and doesn't like loud noises, is easily spooked and hates water. I went to the highway roughly where this dog was seen, and 99% of the area (about a mile long) is fenced, with the exception of where there is an overpass and canal. I don't see any reason as to why my dog would have ran up on the highway, where she could go anywhere else. Maybe she was in a weird state of mind, but it doesn't sound like something my sheltie, or anyone's skiddish sheltie would do.
We were pretty upset last night, but i refuse to believe that it was my dog on the road, as it just sounds weird, and doesn't make sense to me. Today at 12:30 PM I received a call from a woman who thought she saw a sheltie about a mile west of my friends house. This gave me hope, but I was unable to locate any stray dogs after searching the area.
I'm unsure what to do, and most of this probably doesn't mean anything to anyone, but had to get it out there, and hopefully get some opinions. Does anyone think that a person who picks up a dead dog isn't going to call the number on the tag? I'm maintaining hope, as that's all I can do, but this is the worst thing I've ever gone though in my life unfortunately. Thanks for letting me vent. This forum seemed like they've had a lot of luck recovering dogs!
Another thing that's giving me hope, is 2 days after Maggie was lost, someone thought they had her. They sent me a picture, and it was a Sheltie, but it wasn't Maggie. Fortunately due to the fact that we've been in contact with so many people and agencies for lost dogs, this Sheltie was returned to their owner after a month and a half!
I am offering a reward for anyone that is able to help bring my dog home safely. As it's been a week, she could be anywhere. Maggie is a skiddish, but friendly dog. I don't believe she would approch someone, but fear that someone may have taken her in, and are keeping her.
I have received a couple "leads" but unsure how much to rely on them. One woman called and said she thought she saw her running East across a street on Friday night, about 30 minutes after she was lost, this sounds like it could be her, as it's in the right area.
My friend that lost the dog told me to come by their house last night, and said they had bad news. There was a couple driving down their street, and saw one of the lost dog signs, my friend's neighbor happened to see them looking, and ask if they had seen her, they believed they had. The neighbor led them to my friends house to tell the story. These people said that they were driving down the highway at about 8:30 AM on Saturday, the day after she was lost, and said that they saw someone on the side of the highway trying to lure a sheltie to them, and it bolted into the road and someone else hit the dog, and kept going. The husband said that his wife was there, and she works for "Florida Aid to Animals" and was confident it was my dog. He said he was going to pickup the carcass, as they're sure it was killed, the car was going about 80, but he had to take his wife home. When he got back, the body was gone. This means that someone picked up a dead dog, which i'm 100% certain Maggie's collar was on tight enough that it wouldn't come off. I stand firm that if someone is going to pickup a dead dog, they're going to have the courage to call the number on the tags. Some people disagree with me, and say that it can be really difficult to do that, and maybe they just buried the dog. Maybe I'm wrong, but there's a lot to this that doesn't make sense to me.
There was another report of a dead dog on the side of the same highway, about 3 hours earlier, but when my friend went to look, there was no dog. He called animal control and they said there was a dead crane on the side of the road and no dog.
Maggie is a sheltie and doesn't like loud noises, is easily spooked and hates water. I went to the highway roughly where this dog was seen, and 99% of the area (about a mile long) is fenced, with the exception of where there is an overpass and canal. I don't see any reason as to why my dog would have ran up on the highway, where she could go anywhere else. Maybe she was in a weird state of mind, but it doesn't sound like something my sheltie, or anyone's skiddish sheltie would do.
We were pretty upset last night, but i refuse to believe that it was my dog on the road, as it just sounds weird, and doesn't make sense to me. Today at 12:30 PM I received a call from a woman who thought she saw a sheltie about a mile west of my friends house. This gave me hope, but I was unable to locate any stray dogs after searching the area.
I'm unsure what to do, and most of this probably doesn't mean anything to anyone, but had to get it out there, and hopefully get some opinions. Does anyone think that a person who picks up a dead dog isn't going to call the number on the tag? I'm maintaining hope, as that's all I can do, but this is the worst thing I've ever gone though in my life unfortunately. Thanks for letting me vent. This forum seemed like they've had a lot of luck recovering dogs!
Another thing that's giving me hope, is 2 days after Maggie was lost, someone thought they had her. They sent me a picture, and it was a Sheltie, but it wasn't Maggie. Fortunately due to the fact that we've been in contact with so many people and agencies for lost dogs, this Sheltie was returned to their owner after a month and a half!
Still praying for a safe return home.