Peoria Times: Lost Dog Finds Way Home After Four-Day Absence
Filed under: Pets 911 - August 25, 2008
By Elizabeth Jackman
Bailey is living proof that miracles can happen.
The little silver and tan colored 3-year-old Terrier mix went missing on Aug. 5 in the area of 89th and Olive avenues, while being dog sat by relatives of her mom and dad, Terry and Scott Schmidt.
“I took her over to my sister-in-law’s home around 11:30 a.m. with my other dog, Zoe,” Terry said. “There was a little gap on the side of their gate and when my niece got home around 2 p.m., she couldn’t find her, she searched everywhere. She called me about 3 p.m.”
Terry said there were two other dogs at the house and everyone stayed but Bailey.
“That’s definitely the poodle in her,” she said.
They scoured the streets calling her name, talking to people in their yards and stopping motorists to ask if they’d seen her.
For four frantic days, Terry, Scott and relatives peppered the neighborhood with lost-dog fliers, offering a reward, placed ads in newspapers and Web sites, including Pets 911, Fido Finder and Craig’s List, and checked animal shelters.
“I also called the City of Peoria Animal Control to see if she had been picked up dead or alive and they had no record of her,” said Terry, who was sick with worry and grief. “My brother-in-law went to the shelter at 27th Avenue and Lower Buckeye; he must have looked at 500 dogs. On Friday, I went to the animal shelter on Hatcher, where they take injured and sick dogs and didn’t find her. It was very, very sad.”
Bailey was micro-chipped and had on a collar with a cylindrical container that had a little cap that could be unscrewed, and inside was a piece of paper with her name and address.
At 2 a.m. Saturday morning, Terry woke up when she heard the doggy door flap. She looked and Zoe was beside her and thought maybe it was the cat.
“I turned on the patio light and Zoe immediately went to the side of the house and barked,” Terry said. “Then, I heard the gate rattling, I thought I was imagining things.”
She considered calling 911, then thought she might feel stupid if she called and it turned out to be nothing. She went into her garage and listened from the side door and decided, yes, it was definitely the gate.
When she came out of her bedroom into the family room with the phone in her hand, she looked down and saw two dogs.
“I went hysterical screaming, ‘Oh, my God! Bailey, it’s you,” Terry said. “She had her tail tucked between her legs; she knew she had gotten into trouble. I called my sister-in-law and all I could say was, ‘she’s here, she’s here.’ She came over and we had the grand reunion.”
Scott said the three-mile journey to their home in the 8300 block of West Paradise Drive held a lot of perils for Bailey.
“The Loop 101, Grand Avenue and the railroad tracks, were just a few,” Scott said. “And there was also a monsoon on Thursday night.”
The pads on her paws were a little worn and tender and she slept all day Saturday, Terry said.
Several days later, Terry and Scott took her to the vet to have her checked out and make sure her microchip was in place, which it was.
“We don’t know where she spent those four days, if someone had her and she escaped to try and get home, or where she was,” Scott said.
Terry said Bailey must have picked up a scent when she got close to home from their morning walks when she marked her territory.
“She’s a smart one,” Scott said.
Their advice to pet owners is always have them micro-chipped, have tags with their names, addresses and phone numbers on them or some form of ID and a county license.
Terry said, “People should never lose hope because you never know. It’s a miracle with all of the obstacles that she made it home.”