Safely Home: Chloe’s Cold Comfort

Tuesday, January 12 was a cold, windy, snowy day. The temperature was barely above ten degrees with blowing snow. Sheila and I went out grocery shopping. On our return, we brought the groceries in and I shut the gate letting out our three dogs Chloe, Domino and Skipper. Five minutes later, I went to let them back in and found that I must not have latched the gate properly and that the wind had blown it open. All three dogs were gone! None of the dogs had their collars on, but fortunately, Chloe did have a PetLink microchip. Sheila and I put our coats and shoes back on and went out looking for our pets.

I spotted Skipper crossing the street several houses down and went to get him. Still calling for the other two, I took Skipper back inside the house. Sheila and I walked up and down the street calling for Chloe and Domino. We noticed two sets of tracks near Rocky River Drive and decided to get the car and check the other side of Rocky River. We drove up and down the streets then did it several times more and expanded our search. A couple of hours later, we went back to one area and spotted Domino trying to cross a bank of snow. Poor Domino was half frozen and could hardly walk, with icicles hanging off his face and chest. After dropping Domino at home we went back to the area and searched until dark. There was still no sign of Chloe and the temperatures went down to single digits that night.

The next day, Sheila printed a number of flyers and we hung them at stores, the animal hospital down the street, and the SPCA where we had adopted her. Our son Steve also took some to where he worked and suggested we put a post on Craigslist and the St Patrick site. We searched off and on that day and the day after. When we still hadn’t found Chloe, I admit, I had lost hope and I hated myself.

The next day, Sheila had to return to work and at about 1:00 p.m. she called me. Sheila had received a call from animal control saying they thought they might have our dog. On the way there I tried not to get my hopes up as we went in. After handing over our IDs, they allowed us back to where the smaller cages were and as we were walking down the line of cages we spotted a dog that looked just like Skipper. My heart sank as I realized it was not Chloe but then, just as we reached that cage, a dog in the next cage further on, hiding in the back, spotted us and went crazy, jumping and crying!! It was Chloe! Both Sheila and I burst out in tears! Chloe was found!

So that is the story of Chloe the lost and found dog. It’s so good to have her back home where she belongs! PetLink allowed me to print up the posters and the microchip helped prove that she was indeed my dog!