Facebook posts, neighborhood email, Rob Steward, from Rob the Road sharing with his network, Nextdoor.com, Instagram, Oak Park Neighborhood Facebook, Craigslist, Finding Rover app and other lost pet apps, fliers posted in all sorts of places, visits to the animal shelters, searching and searching, prayers from people all over the world....
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Peanut's portrait by Thomas Starnes,
friend and artist extraordinare. |
For 10 days straight, morning, noon and night, I searched high and low.
NOTHING. NOT EVEN A CLUE.
So many wonderful people called or emailed or texted with pictures of lost dogs they thought might be Peanut. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the outpouring of support and encouragement through this frantic and difficult time.
On June 19, I painted a huge billboard and several huge lawn signs with all the info and a "$300 Reward. " I placed them in strategic, high-traffic places near my studio until late last night.
That same night a wonderful neighbor came knocking on my studio door and said he thought Peanut was up by Broadway and 35th Street. I dashed up to the corner, hoping it was Peanut.
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I wondered if I'd ever see this 2 pound
molecule of pure cuteness ever again |
Cowering in the street was a distraught little chihuahua similar to my baby - terrified, lost...
and not Peanut.
The little dog would not let anyone get close. A neighbor called Animal Services. They only come out for dead or injured animals.
I slowly made friends with the little dog and she let me pick her up. I took her back to my studio so the poor thing would not get hit by a car. My heart ached for this lost dog.
Outside the studio door, dog in hand, I kept thinking
"I sure hope someone did this for my little Peanut."
Now I had a stray dog to take home.
Suddenly a car came zooming up and 2 young guys jumped out, thanking me for finding their dog.
Okay, please good Karma come my way!
The morning of June 20, I got a call from some guy asking if I had a lost dog and was there a reward. Someone had seen the billboards or fliers or something out there.
A minute later I got a text from a lady with a blurry image of a dog and asking if this was my dog. She said she got Peanut from a Mexican lady and her 2 sons at a Walmart parking lot way up north of Sacramento and gave me her address to come get Peanut and bring the reward. We jumped in the car and drove way up to Del Paso Heights-- several miles north of Oak Park where Peanut went missing.
The lady gave us Peanut. We gave her the money. And Peanut is back with her family where she belongs.
Lessons I've learned through this ordeal:
- There are many good and caring people in the world when you are going through hard times
- Keep asking "What else can I do?" and pray for inspired ideas. Don't give up as long as there are ideas and options to consider.
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