CALGARY – It was a close call for Cubby the dog Wednesday as a well-intentioned rescuer’s actions turned horribly wrong.
Cubby, a 16 year old female Lhaso Apso/Pomeranian/Poodle mix escaped from a fenced backyard in Woodbine late Tuesday evening.
Her owners searched for her for hours to no avail.
Unbeknownst to them, Cubby had been recovered by a Good Samaritan but because she hadn’t been wearing her collar, the rescuer did what she thought was the next best thing – and posted a found ad on Kijji.
A woman answered the ad and showed up on the rescuer’s doorstep at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, well dressed and with a kennel in tow.
The rescuer noted later to Cubby’s family that the dog didn’t seem happy or excited to see the woman but, she gave Cubby to her anyway.
“She felt terrible and she is doing her best right now to help work with us and the police,” said Meghan Levay, Cubby’s owner.
Cubby has been in the Levay family for 16 years, since Meghan was just six years old.
“She’s a crazy old girl. She sleeps a lot but she still goes on walks everyday and she still gets really excited like a puppy, it’s really cute,” Levay said. “We all just love her so much, she’s been the center of our family for all these years.”
YYC Pet Recovery sent Meghan the link for the found Kijiji ad, but by the time she contacted the person who had posted it, Cubby was already gone.
Meghan’s parents filed a report with the police who sent out a tweet asking for the senior dog’s safe return.
The family’s wishes were miraculously granted when the same woman who picked Cubby up early on Wednesday morning, dropped her off at the same location late in the afternoon.
She had been closely shaved, police aren’t sure why, but otherwise appeared to be unharmed.
The family is overjoyed at their furry friend’s arrival back home and warns this could happen to anyone and that there are certain steps to ensure no more dogs are stolen this way.
“If you find a lost dog it’s very important that rather than keeping them at your home, take them to a vet or give them over to the city. What they can do is search them for tattoos or a chip and they can figure out where that came from,” explained Levay. “The city will also make sure that people have appropriate ID when claiming a dog… that’s probably a better way to go about it.”
Police continue to investigate.
With files from Tracy Nagai