I live in a pretty small community of about 800 full-time residents. The boundaries of our community are waterways, and there is no way onto our island except by boat or car ferry. Our island utilizes the resources of a private social network site where everyone can post things that have meaning to the community. It's also a place where local business can post specials, and community events can be publicized. Another topic, among several, is "Lost and Found."
Recently (on August 31st, 2015) a family lost their 3-year-old male brindle cattle dog mix. This is not the first time the dog has gotten out of their fenced-in yard, and I know this because they have posted about it on our community social network site previously. Usually the dog was recovered within a day or so. This time, the dog is still missing over two weeks later. They have even enlisted the help of a service to locate their pet, now offering a $1,000 reward for recovery. They have posted laminated flyers all over our island, as well as in neighboring communities, and have also posted on other social networking sites to get the word out.
On one hand, I feel bad for this family for losing their pet. On the other hand, I don't. Not because I'm a horrible person (which I'm not) and not because I don’t care about animals (which I do), but if this dog has gotten out before, *something else* could have been done to make sure the dog didn't get out again. I couldn't say whether a higher fence, or keeping the dog on a lead, or any number of other things would have been an appropriate solution to keeping their dog from getting out of their yard, but it could have been something. Anything. But that didn't happen.
The postings that this family is making our networking site are getting to be a bit ridiculous. Here is an excerpt from an actual post made by one of the family members:
"[Dog's name] has been missing for 2 weeks now. Someone has taken him and we need him back. If you are an island resident, please contact any people (out-of-towners) that you know that were on the island the week of August 31st. He is missed terribly by his family, and we just want him home. Someone had to have taken him to the mainland, or STILL has him on the island."
I'm sure this family member is just trying to keep hope alive, but to accuse someone of taking him and keeping him (or even dropping him somewhere) seems a bit absurd and unreasonable. They're basically insinuating that local residents are doing something totally underhanded here, and that's pretty insulting.
There are several theories as to what happened, but here are my top theories why I think this dog is not coming home:
1. He went for a swim and got caught by the current and drowned.
2. He got eaten by one of several coyotes spotted on the island.
3. He got hit by a car and is lying in a ditch / weeds somewhere.
The same family member continues to post to our social networking site saying, "Someone on the island knows something but is choosing not to speak up. If that person is you... SHAME ON YOU!!!!" After publishing this comment, the author removed it about 20 minutes later once someone else commented something along the lines of, "If someone knew something, they would have said something by now."
Personally I think it is a waste of time, money, and effort looking for a dog in this situation. Especially now, over two weeks after the fact? That dog is long gone. Give it up; let it go. Move on. Besides, shaming or attempting to shame someone on a social networking site is not an appropriate way to get a response.
No comments:
Post a Comment