Finding Brandy

An email alert was sent to the entire volunteer population.  Immediately phones started to ring – where does she live?   I’m going down there.  Volunteers closest to Brandy’s home drove there armed with flashlights, dog treats, and the determination that she would be found that night.    

In the meantime other GRRI volunteers sprung into action.  By the next morning, all the animal shelters and police departments in the surrounding vicinity had been notified;  the Home Again microchip company had been notified,  missing dog notices were posted on internet sites like Petfinder and Dog Detective.com, animal communicators were engaged, and local veterinary hospitals were contacted.  An alert went out on several internet Golden Retriever email lists.   An ad was placed, at GRRI’s expense, in the local newspaper, and one local radio station posted a missing dog alert on their community board. A $100 reward was posted by the Board of Directors.  Brandy’s family posted missing dog posters all over town, and visited the shelters to make sure she “really” wasn’t there. 

But Brandy still wasn’t found.    

More and more GRRI volunteers and friends headed down to south Jersey to join in the search – some coming from as far away as 2 hrs.   Brandy’s home became “command central”.  Her family opened their home up to total strangers, offering refreshments, dry towels, bathroom facilities, and a place to dry off. 

Other GRRI adopters who lived in the area heard about this missing Golden girl and joined the search.  Neighbors allowed access to their expansive properties; the local community golf course posted the flyer and drove a volunteer around the perimeter of the course in a golf cart so she could check under bushes, fences and trees.

Still no sign of Brandy. 

We were all getting worried at this point.  24 hrs had gone by, it was getting dark again, she had not eaten in 24-hrs, and more importantly, she had not had her medication.  We were determined to find her.   Another volunteer with a rescue in Maryland offered to bring her search and rescue dogs up the next day if Brandy hadn’t been found. 

Then suddenly cell phones started to ring – we found her….she came home by herself !  Two of our volunteers stopped by the home for a restroom break, and who was standing on the porch? Brandy!  She was muddy, but otherwise dry. And oh so happy to see everyone.

Tears flowed, tails wagged, and a lot of hugs were exchanged.  Brandy was immediately fed and given her medication, then checked by GRRI volunteers to make sure there were no injuries.  Brandy loved all the attention. She got so excited she started to do a happy dance, hopping from one foot to the other.  Wine flowed, pizza was eaten, and then it was time to go home.  Several volunteers accepted the hospitality of Brandy’s family and spent the night. 

The next morning she was given a nice warm bath to rinse off all the mud from her little escapade, and brushed and blown dry.  She loved all the attention. She was a little stiff from her 25 hours outdoors but otherwise in good health.  She bade a fond farewell to all her new friends, and as we drove away, she was standing in the doorway, wagging her tail.

Thinking back on all of this now, we can’t help but think how overwhelmed Brandy’s family must have been with all these people showing up on their doorstep to help look for their dog.   And it amazes us still how our wonderful volunteers and friends dropped everything they were doing and made Brandy their top priority.  Why?  To quote one of our volunteers, “because this is what we do”. 

 Our thanks to everyone who helped find Brandy!!!