05/14/2024
https://www.facebook.com/100069974743749/posts/745076411168177/?mibextid=Nif5oz
Reunited after 6 days and 30 miles away!
If only they could talk, we have a few questions we would ask this girl! Maddie lives in Oxnard with her human family and one dog brother. When the door was opened on 4 /23, Maddie took her opportunity to escape out the door when her owner was trying to keep her large dog brother from running out. She ran down the street and vanished. It had already been 6 days before Maddie's owners contacted Dog Days Search and Rescue. Justice lived close to where Maddie got loose and helped get posters up right away. There were so many places this little girl could be, from hiding in a large field near her house to being found by any of the many neighbors in the area. With no collar on and no microchip, no one could know how to get this girl back home.
Then Jenn spotted a post that seemed to look very much like Maddie, but it was from a vet's office all the way in Malibu! From our experience, we knew it is was a possibility.
We contacted the owners and they confirmed, IT WAS HER! After speaking with Malibu Vet, we discovered that a good Samaritan brought her to them after finding her wandering on Deer Creek Road on the same day she went missing. Did someone find her in Oxnard and take her to Malibu only to lose her there? Or worse, to purposefully dump her on a rural canyon road?
We don't know, but what we do know is she is one lucky girl to have survived the predators that could have done her in and we are so thankful that she is back home with her family. 💖
We would like to use this opportunity to remind everyone that if you find a stray animal, even if it does not have a collar, chances are it does have a family and a loving home that it would like to get back to. As a finder, you are legally obligated to either take the animal to the shelter or and/or report it to the LOCAL shelter. You may not rehome it or keep it without waiting a full 30 days in most jurisdictions while diligently searching for the rightful owner. Also, this happens often, where someone may pick up a lose dog and travel to their work or to home area, because of convenience. Taking it out of the area is not ideal and while this can make it more challenging for an owner to find their animal, it also has kept the animal safe and is far better the leaving a stray out there running alone and scared. A Collar with tags can easily resolve getting a lost pet home when this happens!
We would like to thank Malibu Veterinary Clinic for keeping Maddie safe and posting about her and a special thanks to our own Jennifer Winters Weak for having such a keen eye. Welcome home Maddie!
